.h'- c- 



OS- 












y "^" V ,-^^\--^, ^^ 







0° 



"^^0^ 



















6 9^ '^' 



X 

o 




.•>^^- V/ i^^\ %,^^^ 












^ r>^ " o _ 'v-> 






.-^^ 



> 




I^' 









x^^ 



"^ 












'^^ 






"-t, • 0°^/^^ 



- V ' » . -&. 0° " ° •♦ O ■'^ 






o. 



:^ 






A'-- 



^ .;^%<-. %/ :MH: %o.' fl;^ %v^ ;; 



3< <=/?- 










'> 



^^^.V 



\p 






.•^^ 



HINTS ON LANDSCAPE 
GARDENING 



Hints on 

LANDSCAPE 
GARDENING 

^ By •_/ 

prince t)on ^uckler^ii:uskau 

Translated by BERNHARD SICKERT 
and Edited by SAMUEL PARSONS 

PVITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

CI)c EitjerstUe JJreSBi CambriUffe 

1917 



SB17( 



COPYRIGHT, I917, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



Published June iqiy 



J.i-. 



o 



JUL I7I3I7 

©C!,A-i67869 



Note 



THIS volume, which furnishes a natural se- 
quence to The Art of Landscape Gardenings 
by Humphrey Repton, is the second of a series of 
authoritative books to be published by Messrs. 
Houghton Mifflin Company, The series was un- 
dertaken at the suggestion and with the coop- 
eration of the American Society of Landscape 
Architects, and the writer has been asked to serve 
as general editor. 

Hermann Ludwig Heinrichvon Piickler-Mus- 
kau was the son of a Count, a Privy Councillor 
of the King of Saxony. He married a lady of 
rank, the daughter of the Prince Hardenburg, 
State Chancellor, and one of the great statesmen 
of the age. Born in 1785 in a palace of the old 
town of Muskau in Silesia, about a hundred 
miles from Berlin, he died, full of honors, in 
I 87 1. Pie occupied during his long career many 
positions of importance in civil and military affairs, 
and traveled widely over the world everywhere, 
including a visit to the United States and years 
of residence in England, a country he loved. 

His contribution to the art of landscape archi- 
tecture is large and permanent. It expresses itself 
in his interesting published letters from England, 
entitled The Letters of a German Prince ^ in his 
discussion of the underlying principles of land- 



Note 

scape gardening, and, finally, in the development 
of the great estate of Muskau, to which he gave 
years of personal attention. His letters from Eng- 
land, which were published at the time not only 
in German, but also in English and in French, 
give most valuable and discriminating criticism 
of landscape art, with descriptions of natural and 
artificial scenery. He refers in these letters to a 
great range of places, including Oxford, Kenil- 
worth Castle, Tintern Abbey, Regent's Park, Lon- 
don, Eaton Hall, Warwick Castle, Blenheim, 
and Buckingham Palace. Better than anything 
else they give evidence of his understanding of 
the art of landscape architecture during one of its 
most fruitful periods. Goethe wrote at the time 
that Prince Piickler's letters were a pattern in all 
that relates to landscape gardening, and " be- 
long," he adds, " to the highest class of litera- 
ture." 

In his writings Prince Piickler not only gives 
vivid concrete pictures of the great English es- 
tates, he also points out repeatedly the fundamental 
principles of the art of landscape gardening which 
they illustrate, and on which their convenience, 
beauty, and perfection depend. 

The great w^ork of art, however, to which this 
talented gentleman and greatest of amateur land- 
scape gardeners gave the best years of his life 
was the development of his estate at Muskau. It 
comprises a beautiful valley, with irregular rising 
land skirting the river levels, hills supplying the 
frame for his picture. He treated this private park 



Note 

with variety and breadth, and secured a splendid 
unity of effect. In the words of the late Charles 
Eliot, who visited the estate in 1886 to study it 
as one of the world's most notable examples of 
landscape architecture, Piickler evolved **from 
out of the confused natural situation a composi- 
tion in which all that was fundamentally char- 
acteristic of the scenery, the history and industry 
of his estate should be harmoniously united. . . . 
He would not force upon his native landscape 
any foreign type of beauty ; on the contrary, 
his aim was the transfiguration, the idealization 
of such beauty as was indigenous." Mr. Samuel 
Parsons, the editor of the present volume, refers 
to Prince Piickler's Hints on Muskau's develop- 
ment as " so fundamental and comprehensive that 
it would be difficult to find anything better of 
its kind in landscape gardening literature." 

Fiirst von Piickler-Muskau was not only one 
of the best interpreters of the landscape art of his 
time, he was also a prophet of city-planning. 
More than a hundred years ago he dwelt upon 
the necessity for natural and picturesque beauty 
in great cities, giving as an example the open 
parks and irregular streets of London. 

The plates and other illustrations are a notable 
part of this volume. They include not only all 
the more important original plates and repro- 
ductions of plans of the Muskau Estate before 
and after the improvements of Prince Piickler, 
but also examples of many of the great English 
country places which are referred to by the au- 



Note 

thor. The text and illustrations combined make 
a unique contribution to the limited literature of 
permanent value dealing with the art of landscape 
gardening. 

John Nolen 

Cambridge June ^ igil 



Contents 



Editor's Introduction xi 

Author's Introduction I 

Part First: Hints on Landscape Gardening 

Errata 

Page 46, line li from bottom: For Table I read 

Plate I. 
Page 126, line 2: For Plate XI read Plate A. 
Page 133, line 5 from bottom of text: For Theorious 

read Theorious. 
Page 154, line 11 from bottom: For Table XVI read 

Plate XVI. 
Page 159, line 12: For in the water, and (Plate XX) 

read in the water (Plate XX), and. 
Page 165, line 5 : For Kobeln read Kobeln. 
Page 179, lines li and 12: For finished on the map 

read as it will appear when completed. 



- - J 
Part Second: Description of the Park in 

MUSKAU AND its OrIGIN III 

Index i^j 



Illustrations 



( The numbered plates are reproduced from the Atlas which accompanied 
the original edition of the Andeutungen iibpr Landschaftsgartnerei, by 
Prince von Piickler-Muskau, Some of the original plates are omitted as 
of less interest and importance than those reproduced, but Prince Ptickler^ s 
references to all the plates are retained in the text for the sake of com- 
pleteness. ) 

Plate XXVII. Cottages in the Park of 

MUSKAU WITH THE ViLLAGE OF KoBELN BE- 
YOND Frontispiece \/ 

Hermann Heinrich Ludwig, Prince von 

PiJCKLER-MuSKAU S 

From the woodcut frontispiece in E. Petzold's First 
Hermann v. Piickler-Muskau, Leipzig, 1874. 



Magdalen College, Oxford : The Gravel 
Walk from the West in 1847 

From a drawing by F. Mackenzie reproduced in The 
Old Colleges of Oxford, by Aymer Vallance, London, 
1912. 

Kenilworth Castle 

From an Engraving by William RadclyfFe after a draw- 
ing by J. V. Barber, in Kenilworth Illustrated, Chis- 
wick, 1 82 1. 

Tintern Abbey 

From The Ruined Abbeys of Britain,hy Frederick Ross. 

Eaton Hall 

From an old print reproduced in English Houses and 
Gardens in the XVlIth and XVIlIth Centuries, by 
Mervyn Macartney, London, 1908. 



XIV 



/ 



:/ 



XVlll 

xxii V 

/ 
XXV i ''' 



viii Illustrations 



Blenheim Castle : East Facade and Formal / 

Garden xxx 



From Country Residences in Europe and America, by 
Louis Valcoulon Le Moyne, New York, 1908. 

View of the Lake at Blenheim xxxiv 

From Country Residences in Europe and America, by 
Louis Valcoulon Le Moyne. 

Haddon Hall and the River Derwent 4 

From Country Residences in Europe and America, by 
Louis Valcoulon Le Moyne. 



y 



Plate I, a and b. Grass Paths for Boundary J 

OF Park 28 

Goethe's Garden House at Weimar 31 ^ 

Redrawn from an illustration in E. Petzold's Landschafts- 
Gartnerei. 

Warwick Castle 36 '^ 

From an engraving by J. C. Varrall after a drawing by 
John Preston Neale, in Neale's Views of the Seats of 
Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland, 
and Ireland, hondon, 1818-29. 

Bird's-Eye View OF Versailles 44'^ 

From Country Residences in Europe and America, by 
Louis Valcoulon Le Moyne. 

Plate H. View from the Front of the Cas- 
tle AT MUSKAU, showing EfFECT OF THE / 

Removal of about Twenty Large Trees 60 

/ 
A Vista in the Park of Muskau 64 ■ 

From a photograph by Thomas W. Sears. 
Windsor Castle 70 V 

From a mezzotint by T. Sutherland in The History of the 
Royal Residences of Windsor Castle, by W. H. Pyne, 
London, 1819. 



Illustrations ix 



Plate IV, e. Border Plantations in the Old 

Style 72 

f. Border Plantations after / 

Nash's Method 72 

Plate XLIII. A Diagram showing Arrange- y 

ment of Shrubs and Herbaceous Plants 76^ 

Plate V. Arrangements of Roads and Paths 82/ 

Plate VI. Diagrams showing Arrangements / 

OF Rivers, Lakes, and Islands 92 v^ 

Plate VII. A Diagram showing Different 

Arrangements of Islands 98 ^ 

Plate VIII. An Artificial Waterfall with / 

Rock Dam too V 

Two Views of the Castle and Moat at 

MusKAu 132 " 

From photographs by Thomas W. Sears. . 

Plate XV. View of the Castle, showing 

Steps with Orange Trees and the Old ,/ 

Castle 

A View of the River as arranged and im- 
proved BY Prince Puckler in his Park at 

MuSKAU 

Redrawn from an old print. 

A Rough Stone Bridge in the Park of 

MuSKAU 

From a photograph by Thomas W, Sears. 

Plate XVIII. ViewofMeadow,Trees, River, 
AND Hills 

Plate XIX. Another View of the Castle / 

AND Lawn 158 ^ 



152 


V 


152 


/ 


156 


/ 


158 


/ 



X Illustrations 

Plate XX. View of Old and New Castles 

AND Lake Lucie i6o 

Plate XXL The Pheasantry,with the Post- 
Bridge OVER THE River beyond i6o 

Plate XXIV. The " Prince " Bridge over 

A Ravine 162 

Plate XXV. Bridge made of Oak Branches 164 

Plate XXVI. English Cottage in the Park 166 

Plate XXVIII. Proposed Cemetery Chapel 168 

Plate XXX. River and Mill 174 

Plate XXXIX. The Gobelin Colony : Cot- 
tages OF THE Garden Laborers 184 

Plate XL. View from the Wussina Deer 

Park, Muskau 186 

Plate XLI. Spruce Tree One Hundred Feet 

High 188 

Plate XLII. Oak Eighty-Five Feet High 188 

Plate XLIV. Cottage near the Hunting 

Castle 190 

Plan A. The Grounds of Muskau before 

THE Improvements were begun In Pocket 

Plan B. The Park of Muskau with the Im- 
provements made or projected by Prince 
PiJCKLER In Pocket 




Hermann Heinrich Ludwig, Prince von Piickler-Muskau 



Editor's Introduction 



HERMANN LUDWIG HEINRICH, 
Prince von Piickler-Muskau, stood in the 
first rank of landscape gardeners in his day and 
generation, largely because of the time and 
place in which the stage for his career was set. 
His endowments were remarkable, but his op- 
portunities were unique. He was the son of an 
ancient house in Silesia, or Lusatia, as it was for- 
merly called, whose authority on the great ances- 
tral estates was supreme. Tradition and aristocratic 
power gave the prestige of the house a peculiar 
value. The despotic power of the highly placed 
land-owners of Germany had not as yet changed 
in spirit from that of the eighteenth century. In 
the world of thought there had been an awaken- 
ing. Goethe reigned in literature without a rival 
in Europe and Schiller was a poetical inspiration 
for all Germany. 

Puckler, the son of a Count and Privy Coun- 
selor of the King of Saxony, was born in the 
palace of his race in Muskau, a town older than 
the Roman occupation, where his forbears had 
ruled for a thousand years. In 1785, the year 
of his birth, the French Revolution was not as 
yet. New ideas, however, were in the air, and 
Voltaire and Rousseau had succeeded in pro- 
foundly modifying the spirit of the age. Yet the 



xii Editor's Introduction 

ap:e still retained much of the time of Mme. de 
Sevigne, a century before, when her letters were 
circulated in the salons of the chateaux of France, 
letters that forgot even to mention the fact that 
outside of the windows, in near-by fields, soldiers 
were slaughtering starving peasants, their coun- 
trymen. 

Puckler, the boy, spent four years when he 
was seven with the Moravians in their Herrnhut 
School at Uhyst, in the Pedagogium at Halle, 
and then, after studying with a tutor for some 
years, he entered the University of Leipsic in 
1800. Here, he took a general course, specializ- 
ing in law. Soon, however, he gave up law and 
chose a military career as better suited to his en- 
terprising spirit. He came to excel in physical 
accomplishments and was a daring and skillful 
horseman. Tales of a combat come to us, where 
he, a champion, met and vanquished a French 
rival, in the presence and amid the plaudits of 
the assembled armies of both sides. These and 
other stories serve to indicate to us his reckless 
daring and energy. Later, Puckler proved him- 
self a skillful and experienced officer at Antwerp 
under Bulow. Afterwards, under Geismar, he 
was at the assault and taking of Cassel, where he 
helped to capture several cannon. He received 
many decorations for brilliant services and was 
made a colonel. Later, he raised a regiment of 
chasseurs and afterwards commanded at Bruges 
as civil and military governor. In 18 14, when 
the Allied Armies entered Paris, he was sent by 



Editor's Introduction xiii 

the Duke of Saxe-Weimar as special ambassador 
to the Emperor Alexander. Soon after this he 
visited England a second time, spending a year 
in that country. 

During the years from 1816 to 1822 Piickler 
occupied himself with many things. He traveled 
everywhere — on the European Continent ; in 
Africa, in Algeria, and Egypt and other places ; 
in Asia and America, making notes as he traveled 
and afterwards writing books. His adventures 
even took the form of ascending in a balloon 
with a celebrated aeronaut, a great feat in those 
days. During this period came the death of his 
father with whom he seems to have lived on good 
terms except for the usual disagreements which 
extravagant sons have with most fathers. Doubt- 
less, he was many times during his travels so short 
of funds as to be almost in dire want, but hav- 
ing been bred a soldier and being of a high, free 
spirit it is not likely that any shortage of funds 
seriously troubled him. 

He finally married a lady of rank, the Count- 
ess Pappenheim, widow of the Count of the 
same name and daughter of the Prince Harden- 
burg. State Chancellor and one of the great states- 
men of the age. We find Puckler at this period 
of his career enjoying much society in the gay, 
as well as in the diplomatic, world. In 18 18, for 
instance, he accompanied his wife and father-in- 
law to the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. Later 
he was offered an ambassadorship to Constanti- 
nople and other high state employments. He, 



xiv Editor's Introduction 

however, refused them all, and sought his very 
considerable estates inherited from his father. 
In the course of the settlement of certain bound- 
ary and feudal rights, the Prussian Government 
decided to give Puckler the title of Prince and a 
considerable sum of money. 

For the better part of ten years he devoted 
himself to carrying out his great plans for his 
estates, even importing American trees for which 
he had conceived an admiration during a visit 
he had paid to the United States. Eventually, 
however, he found his funds so much exhausted 
that about 1828 he bethought himself of mak- 
ing a journey again to England with an idea of 
bettering his fortunes in some mysterious, whim- 
sical way, but chiefly, it may be surmised, be- 
cause he loved England and travel. During this 
trip in 1828 his travels extended over England 
and Ireland, and resulted in the instructive and 
witty letters afterward published in Stuttgart 
under the name oi Brief e eines Gestorben ("Letters 
of a Deceased Person"). They were translated 
into English under the name 'Tour of a German 
Pri?ice^ etc., etc. These letters became celebrated, 
indeed so much so that Goethe wrote at the time 
in the Berliner Buch that Puckler's letters had 
been long a pattern in all that relates to land- 
scape gardening. Goethe says, these letters " be- 
long to the highest class of literature." As litera- 
ture they certainly take high rank both for their 
fine and true conception of landscape gardening 
principles and for their descriptions of scenery. 




o ^ 



<)> 


J3 


W) 




<o 


F 


o 


p 


( ; 


"•^ 




-li! 


c 




^ 
« 


^ 


-n 


-rj 


tU) 




rt 





S o 



Editor's Introduction xv 

They possessed, moreover, a charm and wit that 
recalled the touch of the incomparable letter- 
writers of the eighteenth century : a century of 
which Prince Puckler was a product in certain 
singular ways; truly a grand seigneur with all his 
large and modern ideas ; a soldier, a patriot, a 
philosopher, and a humanitarian ; verily a land- 
scape gardener of a most unique type ! He came 
back to Germany from England no richer except 
in literary fame. From that time the major part 
of his attention was given to the development of 
his estates and to the elaboration of his notes and 
maps which later he published in the form of the 
present book. 

Traveling he naturally could not forego, and his 
advice, moreover, was sought from time to time 
for the improvement of great estates throughout 
Europe from the Royal Park at Babelsburgh, 
near Potsdam, to the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. 
In 1 845 he had largely developed his estates at 
Muskau, as may be seen to-day, but he had like- 
wise so completely exhausted his means that he 
was at last forced to sell his beloved ancestral home 
to Frederick of the Netherlands and retire to 
Braunitz, a smaller estate at some distance away. 
It is said that so bitter was his disappointment 
at leaving Muskau, that although he lived more 
than thirty years afterward he never again visited 
his old home. During these thirty years he con- 
tinued to improve Braunitz, to write, and to 
travel, and to take part in most of the great events 
of the day. In 1863 he was made a member of 



xvi Editor's Introduction 

the Prussian House of Lords (Herrenhaus), and in 
1866, when eighty-one years old, he attended 
the Prussian General Staff in the war with Austria. 
In 1 871 he died full of honors, and with the 
consciousness, in spite of many failures and poign- 
ant disappointments, of having made for himself 
a great career. The reason for thus dwelling at 
length on the career of Prince Piickler is because 
it goes far to explain why he became exactly the 
sort of landscape architect he was. Yet it was not, 
altogether, the character of his ancestors, his en- 
vironment, nor his upbringing that accounted for 
Prince Piickler. He had, fortunately for him, 
just the background and stage-setting that would 
enable him to grace the part that circumstances 
and personal taste called on him to fill : but there 
was a certain fire of genius in the man Puckler 
that was sui generis , something of his very own. 
Like all geniuses he was of his age, and yet not 
of his age. No other landscape architect ever 
resembled him, or perhaps equaled him, if his 
accomplishments and work are duly weighed. 
He was born and brought up, it must be remem- 
bered, in the eighteenth century, imbibed its 
charm in his early days and kept all his life in 
his words and bearing something of its savor. 
He could not help being, as shown by his letters, 
a delightful companion and the old-time gentle- 
man. As the years passed, however, and he 
breathed the air of the new century, he naturally 
became inspired by its humanitarian ideas and 
its broader vision. He could not help belonging 



Editor's Introduction xvii 

to the romantic school. It was in his blood: it 
developed in his philosophy and in his art and 
kindled into vivid life whatever he said, wrote, 
and did. All his wild adventures and strange 
visions and dreams, his love of Nature, his vague, 
humanitarian schemes, even his somewhat high- 
flown sentiments, expressed on all sorts of topics, 
mark him as a type of the romantic artist. He 
could, however, paint life with a broad and flow- 
ing brush and at the same time with a simplicity 
that explained perhaps why he was so keen and 
appreciative an admirer of Mme. de Sevigne, little 
as she had in common with the romantic school. 
For simplicity as well as romantic fervor what 
can be better than the following passage found 
in one of his letters where he speaks of a lovely 
lady dwelling obscurely in poverty in a remote 
part of Ireland : — 

I wish I could describe this sweet and lovely being 
to you in such a manner as to place her visibly before 
you, certain that you, like me, would love her at first 
glance. But I feel that all description falls short. All 
about her is heart and soul. She was dressed in black 
with greatest simplicity, her dress was up to the neck 
but fitting close to her beautiful form. Her person is 
slender and extremely youthful, full of gentle grace, and 
not without animation and fire in her movements. 
Her complexion is of a pure clear brown and has the 
soft polish of marble. More beautiful and brilliant black 
eyes, or teeth of more dazzling whiteness I have never 
beheld. Her mouth, too, with the angelic, childlike char- 
acter of her smile, is enchanting. Her refined, unaffected 
good breeding, the sportive grace of her gay and witty 
conversation were of that rare sort which are innate, and 



xviii Editor's Introduction 

must therefore please, whether in Paris or Pekin, in 
town or country. The greatest experience of society- 
could not give more ease and address, and no girl of 
fifteen could blush more sweetly or jest more joyously, 
and yet her life had been the most simple and uniform, 
and her youth was rather the unfading youth of the 
soul than that of the body, for she was the mother of 
four children, nearly thirty, and just recovered from an 
attack of the lungs which had threatened to prove fatal. 
But the fire of all her movements, the lightning flashes 
of her conversation, had all the freshness and all the 
charm of youth, giving a resistless loveliness to the 
gentleness of her nature. 

Here is, doubtless, a somewhat exaggerated 
picture of his imagination. An attractive woman 
there was, but not just such a woman as he de- 
picts her. Inspired, possibly, by some stray mem- 
ory of Byron's verses which he greatly admired, 
in any case, transfusing a homely incident of his 
travels with the glow of his imagination, he 
simply did what he was always doing with his 
landscape architecture, and often afterwards in 
other ways in the changeful phases of his varied 
life. 

Piickler's career in England was quite typical 
of the man; going to that country to recuper- 
ate his fortunes in some mysterious way, he trav- 
eled like a grand seigneur in the most expensive 
manner; then, when funds were short or carriage 
lacking, on horseback or even on foot. His lit- 
erary imagination found vent at this time in let- 
ters to his divorced wife, and, strange to say, 
then and afterwards his beloved companion and 



Editor's Introduction xix 

confidante. These letters are truly models of epis- 
tolary genius. Their descriptions of scenery are 
especially fine, and one needs, fully to realize the 
greatness of his literary power, to comprehend 
Piickler's peculiar value as a landscape architect. 
Here is one of his descriptions: — 

On two sides the eye wanders over an almost im- 
measurable plain, on the other, lies Loch Corrib, a 
lake, thirty miles in length, behind which are the moun- 
tains of Clare and in still remoter distance the romantic 
ridge of Connemara. The lake just at the middle bends 
inland like a river, and its waters gradually lose them- 
selves between the lofty mountains which seem to form 
a gateway for their entrance. Just at this point the sun 
set: and Nature which often rewards my love for her, 
displayed one of her most wondrous spectacles. Black 
clouds hung over the mountains and the whole heavens 
were overcast; only just at this point, the sun looked 
out from beneath the dusky veil and issued a stream 
of light which filled the whole ravine with a sort of un- 
earthly splendor. The lake glittered beneath it like 
molten brass, while the mountains had a transparent 
steel-blue luster like the gleam of diamonds. Single 
streaks of rose-colored cloud passed slowly across the 
illuminated picture over the mountains; while on both 
sides of the opened heavens distant rain fell in torrents, 
and formed a curtain which shut out every glimpse of 
the remaining world. Such is the magnificence which 
Nature has reserved for herself alone, and which even 
Claude's pencil couid never imitate. 

These lines purport to give simply a descrip- 
tion of Nature, but at the very end Piickler can- 
not help writing as a landscape architect, which 
is primarily his true vocation. 



XX Editor's Introduction 

There are many fine descriptions of Nature in 
the letters of Piickler, and it might be well to 
quote one more as a further illustration of the 
distinction of his purely literary work: — 

Turn your imagination to a spot of ground so com- 
mandingly placed that from its highest point you can 
let your eye wander over fifteen counties. Three sides 
of this vast panorama rise and fall in constant change 
of hill and dale like the waves of an agitated sea, and 
are bounded at the horizon by a strangely formed 
jagged outline of the Welsh Mountains, which at either 
end ascend to a fertile plain, shaded by thousands of 
lofty trees, and in the obscure distance, where it blends 
with the sky, is edged with a white misty line — the 
ocean. 

The peculiarity of such a description is not 
only its eloquence and poetical expression, but 
its real value lies in its landscape conception. 
Probably no other man of Piickler's time could 
have brought together, in a single picture, just the 
right elements, and grouped them in such a way 
as to set before one a great landscape scene in so 
fine a manner. It is a case, as may be seen over 
and over again in reading Piickler's letters, of a 
landscape architect developing a great landscape 
and transfusing it with the vivifying glow of his 
own trained imagination. In other words, Piickler 
knew just what to select from the landscape to 
present its truest and most valuable character. 

Prince Piickler was, however, a good deal 
more than a lover of Nature in her higher moods 
and a skillful artist in creating effects akin to 



Editor's Introduction xxi 

Nature's best efforts: he was a great gentleman 
with forbears of a thousand years ; he was a sol- 
dier and an economist devoted to the interests 
of his peasant laborers and German countrymen. 
Hardly ever had the interests of one man ex- 
tended so widely; certainly those of no landscape 
architect. To show the diversity of his interests 
I will quote a passage about Oxford: — 

I have walked over Oxford and I cannot express 
with what intense delight I wandered from cloister to 
cloister, and refreshed myself in this living spring of 
antiquity. There is a magnificent avenue of elms which 
like the buildings date from the year 1520. From this 
queen of avenues in which not a single tree was want- 
ing, and which leads through a meadow to the river, 
you see on one side a charming landscape, and on the 
other a part of the city with five or six of the most 
beautiful Gothic towers — ever a noble view, but to- 
day rendered almost like a piece of fairy enchantment; 
the sky was overcast, the wind drove the black, fan- 
tastic clouds like a herd of wild beasts across it : at 
length the most beautiful rainbow vaulting from one 
tower and descending on another, spanned the whole 
city. 

Read this weird and soul-stirring description 
of Kenilworth Castle: — 

The day was gloomy, black clouds rolled across the 
heavens, and occasionally a yellow, tawny light broke 
from between them, rhe wind whistled from among the 
ivy, and piped shrilly through the vacant windows. 
Now and then a stone loosened itself from the crum- 
bling buildings and rolled clattering down the outer 
wall. Not a human being was to be seen; all was soli- 



xxii Editor's Introduction 

tary and awful; a gloomy but sublime memorial of de- 
struction. 

There is more than the suggestion of mysti- 
cism in this passage, but here is the real thing : — 

I entreat you [he writes to a dear friend] , be with me 
at least in thought, and let our spirits journey together 
over sea and land and look down from the summit of 
mountains and enjoy the sweet repose of valleys, for I 
doubt not that spirits, in forms as infinitely various as 
infinity itself is boundless, rejoice throughout all worlds 
in the beauty of God's magnificent creation. 

A mystic Piickler always was and always re- 
mained. He was always dreaming and seeing 
visions. There was a touch of madness in some of 
his strange fancies. The reader of his book will 
remember the lake he designed which was to 
rear above the surface of its waters funereal me- 
morials ; i.e., rocks inscribed with names intended 
to commemorate his ancestors interspersed and 
surrounded by weeping willows. 

For magnificence of description and grandeur 
of outlook, all transfused with the magic of his 
imagination, it would be hard to find anything 
better of its kind than the following description 
of Warwick Castle which, on account of its 
length, is given only in part : — 

Let your fancy conjure up a space about twice as 
large as the Colosseum at Rome, and let it transport 
you into a forest of romantic luxuriance. You now 
overlook the large court surrounded by mossy trees 
and large buildings, which, though of every variety of 
form, combine to create one sublime and connected 



Editor's Introduction xxiii 

whole, whose lines now shooting upward, now falling 
off into the blue air with the continually changing beauty 
of the green earth beneath, produce, not symmetry in- 
deed, but the higher harmony elsewhere proper to Na- 
ture's work alone. The first glance at your feet rests on a 
broad, simple carpet of turf around which a softly wind- 
ing gravel walk leads to the entrance and exit of the gi- 
gantic edifice. Look backward and your eye rests on the 
two black towers of which the oldest, called Guy's Tower, 
rears its head aloft in solitary threatening majesty high 
above all the surrounding foliage, and looks as if cast in 
one mass of solid iron; the other built by Beauchamp is 
half hidden by a pine and chestnut, the noble growth 
of centuries. Broad-leaved ivy and vines climb along the 
walls, here twining around the tower, there shooting to 
its very summit. On your left lies the inhabited part 
of the Castle and the chapel ornamented with many 
lofty windows of various size and form, while the oppo- 
site side of the vast quadrangle, almost entirely with- 
out windows, presents only a mighty mass of embattled 
stone, broken by a few larches of colossal height, and 
huge arbutuses which have grown to a surprising size 
in the shelter they have long enjoyed. But the sublim- 
est spectacle yet awaits you. On the fourth side, the 
ground, which has sunk into a low, bushy basin form- 
ing the court, and with the buildings also descending for 
a considerable space, rises again in the form of a steep, 
conical hill along the sides of which climbs the rugged 
walls of the castle. This hill and the keep which crowns 
it are thickly overgrown at the top with underwood, 
which only creeps round the foot of the tower and walls. 
Behind it, however, rise gigantic venerable trees tower- 
ing above all the rocklike structure. Their bare stems 
seem to float in midair, while at the very summit of 
the building rises a daring bridge, set, as it were, on 
either side with trees, and as the clouds drift across the 
blue sky, the broadest, most brilliant masses of light 



xxiv Editor's Introduction 

break magically from under the towering arch and the 
dark crown of trees. 

Prince Piickler's description of Tintern Ab- 
bey — Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey — should 
not be passed by : it is so fine : — 

It would be difficult to imagine a more favorable 
situation or a more sublime ruin. The entrance to it 
seems as if contrived by the hand of some skillful scene 
painter to produce the most striking effect. The church, 
which is large, is still almost perfect; the roof alone and 
some of the pillars are wanting. The ruins have received 
just that degree of care which is consistent with the full 
preservation of their character. All unpicturesque rub- 
bish that would obstruct the view is removed without 
any attempt at repair or embellishment. A beautiful 
smooth turf cov.ers the ground and luxuriant creeping 
plants grow amid the stones. The fallen ornaments are 
laid in a picturesque confusion and a perfect avenue of 
thick ivy stems climb up the pillars and form a roof 
over head. The better to secure the ruin, a new gate 
of antique workmanship is put up. When this is sud- 
denly opened the effect is striking and surprising. You, 
at once, look down the avenue of ivy clad pillars and 
see the grand perspective lines closed at the distance of 
three hundred feet by a magnificent window eighty feet 
high and thirty feet broad: through its intricate and 
beautiful tracery you see a wooded mountain from whose 
sides project abrupt masses of rock. 

When it comes to landscape gardening criti- 
cism, we find all through his letters passages that 
abundantly prove that his mind was continually 
occupied in studying his art wherever he traveled. 
Here is a bit on city planning and the landscape 
connected with it which might have been written 



Editor's Introduction xxv 

by some of the best authorities of the present 
day: — 

Faultless on the other hand, is the landscape garden- 
ing part of the park [Regent's], which also originated 
with Mr. Nash, especially in the disposition of the 
water. Art has here completely solved the difficult prob- 
lem of concealing her operations under the appearance 
of unrestrained nature. You imagine you see a broad 
river flowing on through luxuriant banks, and going 
off in the distance in several arms, while in fact you are 
looking upon a small piece of standing though clear 
water created by art and labor. So beautiful a landscape 
as this with hills in the distance, surrounded by an en- 
closure of magnificent houses, a league in circuit, is cer- 
tainly a design worthy of one of the greatest capitals in 
the world, and when the young trees are grown into 
majestic giants will scarcely find a rival. In the execu- 
tion of Mr. Nash's plan many old streets have been 
pulled down, and during the last ten years more than 
sixty thousand houses built in this part of the town. 
It is, in my opinion, a peculiar beauty of these new 
streets, that, though broad, they do not run in straight 
lines, but make occasional curves which break the uni- 
formity. 

It is interesting to follow the working of 
Piickler's mind as he studies his subject, how the 
principles of his art were formulating themselves 
in his mind to be afterwards realized and actually 
executed on his own place at Muskau where the 
result can be seen to-day. Here is some keen 
criticism of English scenery: — 

The beauty of the country and the extraordinary 
neatness and elegance of every place through which my 
road lay to-day struck me in a most agreeable manner 



xxvi Editor's Introduction 

. . . the picture has but one fault — it is all too culti- 
vated, too perfect, thence always and everywhere the 
same, and consequently, in the long run wearisome. 
Indeed, I can even conceive that it must become distaste- 
ful in time, like the savory dish of dainties to the stom- 
ach of a sated man. 

That Prince Piickler did not hesitate to criti- 
cize the celebrated estates in England is indicated 
by the following passage : — 

We have hastened to see the wonders of Eaton Hall, 
of which, however, my expectations have not been very 
high. Moderate as they were they have been scarcely 
realized. The parks and gardens were, to my taste, 
the most unmeaning of any of their class I had seen, 
although of vast extent. 

On the other hand, here is a description in 
another of Piickler's letters of what he considers 
an ideal park or country estate : — 

Mr. W.'s park is certainly one of the most perfect 
creations of that kind and owes its existence entirely to 
his perseverance and good taste. It is true that he could 
nowhere have found a spot on earth more grateful for 
his labors, but it seldom happens that art and nature 
so cordially unite. It is enough to say that the former 
is perceptible only in the most perfect harmony ; other- 
wise it appears to vanish into pure nature, — not a tree 
or a bush seems planted by design. The vast resources 
of distant prospect are wisely husbanded ; they come 
upon the eye by degrees and as if unavoidably ; every 
path is cut in a direction which seems the only one it 
could take without constraint and artifice; the most 
enchanting effects of woods and plantations are pro- 
duced by skillful management, by contrast of masses, 
by felling some, and thinning others, clearing off and 







"^5 

~ E 
c o 



W 



Editor's Introduction xxvii 

keeping down branches, so that the eye is attracted, 
now into the depth of the wood, now above, now be- 
low the boughs, and every possible variety within the 
region of the beautiful presented. This beauty is never 
displayed naked, but always sufficiently veiled to leave 
the requisite play for the imagination ; for a perfect park 
— in other words, a tract of country idealized by art — 
should be like a good book, which suggests at least as 
many new thoughts and feelings as it expresses. The 
dwelling-house is not visible till you reach an opposite 
height; it then suddenly emerges from the mass of the 
wood, its outline broken by scattered trees and groups, 
and its walls garlanded with ivy, roses, and creeping 
plants. It was built after the plan of the possessor, in 
a style not so much Gothic as antiquely picturesque, 
such as a delicate feeling for the suitable and harmo- 
nious conceived to be in keeping with the surround- 
ing scenery. The gardens lay in all their indescribable 
glow of beauty in a narrow and fertile valley full of high 
trees under which three silver springs gush forth, and 
flowing away in meandering brooks took their course 
in all directions amid impervious thickets of blooming 
rhododendrons and azaleas. 

Of Chiswick, Piickler has the following per- 
tinent criticism to make : — 

I found the garden much altered, but not, I think, 
for the better ; for there is a mixture of the regular 
and irregular which has a most unpleasant eff*ect. The 
ugly fashion now prevalent in England of planting the 
pleasure-ground with single trees and shrubs, placed at 
a considerable distance apart almost in rows, has been 
introduced in several parts of the grounds. This gives 
the grass-plots the air of nursery grounds. The shrubs 
are trimmed round so as not to touch each other, the 
earth carefully cleared about them every day, and the 



xxviii Editor's Introduction 

edges of turf cut in stiff lines, so that you see more of 
black earth than of green foliage and the free beauty 
of nature is quite checked. Mr. Nash, however, adheres 
to a very different principle, and the new gardens of 
Buckingham Palace are models to all planters. 

This criticism of Blenheim and the apprecia- 
tion of the landscape architect. Brown, are spe- 
cially interesting : — 

The park is five German miles in circumference, and 
the piece of water, the finest of its kind existing, occu- 
pies almost eighty acres. The pleasure-grounds are on 
an equally grand scale; forty men are ordinarily em- 
ployed in mowing. Opposite the house the water forms 
a cascade, so admirably constructed of large masses of 
rock brought from a great distance, that it is difficult to 
believe it artificial. 

One cannot help admiring the grandeur of Brown's 
conceptions as one wanders through these grounds: he 
is the Shakespeare of gardening. 

Doubtless the Prince here allowed himself to 
say a little more in favor of this famous place 
than he would have on sober thought. It should 
be remembered that Piickler was entertained in 
England everywhere by the aristocracy and even 
royalty in the most magnificent manner, and 
consequently it is remarkable that he should have 
criticized adversely any of the English estates. 
Think for a moment: would any one at the pres- 
ent time make a tour of American and English 
estates and write in his letters as boldly and criti- 
cize as pointedly as Piickler did a hundred years 
ago .? Perhaps it would be healthy for the art of 



Editor's Introduction xxix 

landscape gardening if some one, competent and 
independent, would undertake to write a few let- 
ters like those of Piickler. 

In order to see that he was little influenced 
by what he saw of Brown's work at Blenheim, 
it is only necessary to wander over the grounds 
of the park at Muskau a few hours. The satiri- 
cal lines of Peacock, said to refer to the art of 
Brown, could hardly be applied to anything de- 
signed by Piickler : — 

Here sweeps a plantation in that beautiful regular 
curve; there winds a gravel walk; here are parts of the 
old wood left in these majestical regular clumps dis- 
posed at equal distances with wonderful symmetry; 
there are some singular shrubs scattered about in ele- 
gant profusion; here a portugal laurel; there a spruce 
fir; here a juniper; here a lauristinus; there a spruce fir; 
here a larch; there a lilac; here a rhododendron; there 
an arbutus. The stream you see has become a canal : 
the banks are perfectly smooth and green, sloping to the 
water's edge.' 

Piickler wTote also more than once in praise 
of Repton's work, and even brought Repton's 

' Headlong Hall. The Prince's criticisms of the landscape garden- 
ing of Germany are severe and the comparisons he makes with England 
are much to the disadvantage of his Fatherland. However, he had great 
hopes of the Royal Gardens at Potsdam, which were being laid out at 
that time by the famous landscape artist Lenne, and which are to-day 
the glory of Germany, and it should be said here that a few of the 
strictures made by Piickler in the early part of the nineteenth century 
would apply to much of the German landscape gardening of to-day. I 
do not mean to imply that a large part of the landscape gardening of 
Germany is not open to criticism viewed from a high artistic standpoint, 
just as is that of England; but it may be fairly said that German 
landscape gardening approaches that of England more nearly now than 
it did in the time of Prince Puckler. 



XXX Editor's Introduction 

son from England to help him in improving 
Muskau. He speaks appreciatively of many land- 
scape architects and horticulturists or gardeners, 
explains their ideas, and even quotes them at 
length, and does not hesitate to criticize them as 
he did in the case of Repton's son. Nor did he 
claim for himself any special academic standing. 
He did not apparently consider himself a pro- 
fessor of the art, nor did he undertake to found 
any special school of landscape gardening. Rather 
he felt like a great amateur who engaged him- 
self in a pleasant occupation with profound se- 
riousness, and faithfully devoted himself to it 
because it was the joy of his life. Probably, if 
he had desired posthumous fame, he would have 
written more for publication. It sufficed him to 
make a fine map of the park of Muskau and 
describe it more or less completely and add 
thereto sundry " hints," as he terms them, 
although their character is so fundamental and 
comprehensive that it would be difficult to find 
anything better of its kind in landscape-gardening 
literature. A quaint, original, free spirit of a man ! 
He did his chore in life with little regard to 
fame, and none too much for rules or conven- 
tions. Consequently, it is not strange that, with 
his broad and almost prophetic outlook, he should 
impress us as almost a man of the present day. 
Certainly, as one walks and drives at the present 
time around his park at Muskau, it is impossible 
not to recognize the kinship of his work with ' 
modern landscape gardening. He seems to have 




03 


F 


u 


o 




U, 


B 




OJ 


c 


JS 




















CQ 





Editor's Introduction xxxi 

realized his ideas with such force and vividness 
that when he finally executed them the excel- 
lence of his work was so evident that except in 
minor details it has remained unmolested until 
the present time. It is not always so with great 
places. Repton built Bulstrode for the Duke of 
Portland in 1810 and gives an elaborate map of 
it as one of his important works, yet Prince 
Piickler notes in one of his letters that, at that 
time, in 1829, it had been pulled to pieces and 
the ground ploughed up. We can all remember 
instances of a similar kind. It may be possible, 
and even probable as already noted, that the land- 
scape art of the park at Muskau may have been 
of such evident excellence that, as the estate passed 
from one owner to another, being at present in 
the possession of Hermann von Arnim-Muskau, 
each one has instinctively kept intact its essential 
beauty. For similar reasons. Central Park, New 
York, has acquired and retained defenders who, 
amid the continued storm and stress of the attacks 
from all sorts and conditions of men, have man- 
aged to keep its landscape soul alive down to the 
present day. Quite otherwise than with a paint- 
ing the park or estate must display the finest kind 
of art or it will not find the doughty defenders 
needed to resist the enemies that will be sure to 
rise up on every side from the midst of good 
people who really think themselves the best of 
friends. Nor do degeneration and destruction of 
parks result generally from neglect, as in the 
case of Babelsburgh, near Potsdam, much of the 



xxxii Editor's Introduction 

beauty of which is the result of Prince Piickler's 
ideas and advice, but it comes from sinning against 
the Hght by those who ought to know better. 
Fortunately, if the art is really sound and true 
there generally seems to be a David to come for- 
ward and redeem the delectable land from the 
hands of the Philistines. 

The full development of landscape architecture 
came late. Greek art in architecture, sculpture, 
song, and the drama struck a high note which 
reached almost perfection two thousand years 
before the glimmerings of true landscape archi- 
tecture appeared in the seventeenth century. 
Nature hardly appealed to pagan artists except in 
the form of a human being. 

When Christ said, " Consider the lilies," he 
struck a new note, which, although submerged 
and lost in the monastic sterility of the Middle 
Ages, began to secure recognition of its true 
value in the minds of men like Du Fresny who 
first applied his genius to the landscape concep- 
tion of a new Versailles, which was unfortunately 
not accepted by Louis XIV. All through the 
eighteenth century this lily of Christ's own 
thought continued to open its petals until in the 
early days of the nineteenth century, in the works 
of Repton and Prince Piickler, the goodly flower 
of landscape architecture appeared in full bloom. 
It is not that finer trees and shrubs, better turf 
and wider vistas have not obtained in later days. 
That goes without saying ! It is that men have 
learned how to design a landscape on natural 



Editor's Introduction xxxiii 

lines, to take a terrain and study out just what it 
is worth for the purpose of creating a landscape 
which shall be evolved from its own peculiar 
constitution and capacity for beauty. Better work 
may be done and has been done; note Central 
and Prospect Parks, New York City, designed 
by Olmsted and Vaux. These men, as well as 
Prince Piickler, also based their work on funda- 
mental principles of art, and in the best land- 
scape architecture of the future these principles 
will not and cannot be changed, for they are in- 
herent in the nature of the subject. 

As an example of the way Piickler indicated 
his principles of design it may be permitted to 
quote a final passage from one of his- letters : — 

The Park at Mount B. affords a perfect study for 
the judicious distribution of masses of water to which it 
is so difficult to give the character of grandeur and sim- 
plicity that ought to belong to them. It is necessary to 
study the forms of nature for the details, but the prin- 
cipal thing is never to suffer an expanse of water to be 
completely overlooked or seen to its whole extent. It 
should break on the eye gradually, and if possible lose 
itself at several points at the same time, in order to 
give full play to the fancy; the true art in all landscape 
gardening. 

The estimate of the genius of Piickler, enunci- 
ated by Goethe nearly a hundred years ago, has 
been already quoted. It would seem well to com- 
pare this with the latest and most authoritative 
criticism of Piickler made in one of the letters 
of the late Charles Eliot, the best writer on land- 



xxxiv Editor's Introduction 

scape architecture of the present generation. He 
writes as follows: Piickler "would evolve, from 
out of the confused natural situation, a compo- 
sition in which all that was fundamentally char- 
acteristic of the scenery, the history, and indus- 
try of his estate, should be harmoniously united." 
In other words, as the same author writes farther 
on, "he would not force upon his native land- 
scape any foreign type of beauty ; on the contrary, 
his aim was the transfiguration, the idealization 
of such beauty as was indigenous." Again Charles 
Eliot writes: — 

One circumstance greatly favored the accomplish- 
ment of his design — namely, the very fact that he had 
to do with a valley and not with a plain or plateau. 
The irregular rising land skirting the river levels sup- 
plied the frame for his picture: the considerable stream 
flowing through the midst of the level with here and 
there a sweep towards the enclosing hills, became the 
all connecting and controlling element in his landscape. 
Well he knew what artists call breadth and unity of 
effect was fully assured if only he abstained from in- 
serting impertinent structures or other objects in the 
midst of this hill-bounded intervale. 

With his usual disregard of difficulties, Piickler 
boldly diverted the river, first into a broad lake, 
then into the moat of the castle, and finally into 
a brook through the garden, where, unlike the 
London rivers which the poet Gray says " only 
glide and whisper," the water dances along over 
rocks and "roars gently." This beautiful piece 
of work looks so natural one cannot believe 




c 



> 



Editor's Introduction xxxv 

it artificial, and that is because Puckler faith- 
fully applied his principles of art, not after the 
Englishman Brown's methods, but according 
to Nature's way. This kind of boldness and 
nature-wise treatment appears everywhere, as 
may be seen by any one visiting the park to-day. 
While one wanders around the shores of the lake 
out on the lawn and passes through the garden 
and across the bridge and up and up to the 
heights where the remnants of the sacred groves 
stand, one finally turns and surveys the scene of 
" tower and town," castle and baths, and the smoke 
of the factories, all coordinated and unified in one 
great picture as far as the eye can see, five thou- 
sand acres, and miles of territory. The parts are 
as completely harmonized as an opera, or a song, 
or a great picture. 

After dwelling on this scene, are we not justi- 
fied in asserting that in all essential matters Prince 
Puckler has stamped " the last word" on his park 
at Muskau. There may be parks, and doubtless 
are, more perfect in this or that part, but it must 
be conceded by good judges that Puckler has, 
in spite of his limitations, mistakes, and fail- 
ures, created one of the few great parks of the 
world. 

The book. Hints on Landscape Gardening, 
although it may seem to deal chiefly with 
Piickler's letters from England, is really a kind 
of notebook rather than a formal treatise. It is, 
however, very informing of the principles and 
practice of Puckler in his landscape treatment 



xxxvi Editor's Introduction 

of his estates at Muskau. It is, in part, a disser- 
tation occupying itself with many things be- 
sides landscape architecture, but it is full of 
sound ideas and suggestions. It does not devote 
itself chiefly to the discussion of trees and shrubs, 
as do many books of a similar kind, but it gives 
you the underlying rules of the art. You will 
readily excuse the digressions, which Puckler 
himself deplores, when you come to study the 
system of practice and the details of the plan by 
means of journeys in the book which take you 
miles around the park. It is doubtful whether 
so extended a study of a great park was ever 
written before by the man who designed the 
entire scheme. The Prince did not undertake to 
instruct the reader fully and completely. He 
claimed to have had "a fairly long practical 
experience, much careful study of practical ex- 
amples combined with a passionate love of the 
art of gardening in the widest sense," all of which 
enabled him, he thinks, " to give some valuable 
hints and to draw up some useful rules." 

His philosophy, his art, and his poetry do 
seem at times, however, to render his treatise 
hardly scientific in the ordinary sense of the 
term, and yet his advice is almost always sound 
and sensible; moreover, with it all, he not infre- 
quently drops into the frame of mind of the man 
who, as the old phrase has it, "talks as he walks 
and thus to himself says he." It is simply Prince 
Puckler with all that goes to make Prince Piick- 
ler. He is a prince and, at the same time, some- 



Editor's Introduction xxxvii 

thing very like a socialist, and not, by any means, 
always a gardener, deeply as he is interested in 
horticulture. He had no desire to speak unkindly 
of any one, but always his " free spirit " de- 
manded scope of expression. Doubtless he wan- 
dered far afield in his musings, but if the reader 
will only dwell for a little on some of his sen- 
tences that seem to him, at first, discursive and 
even possibly absurd, he will finally come to find 
in them food for much thought. It is the man 
Piickler whom we cannot help wishing to know 
quite as much as his interpretation of his art. 
He was certainly a personality. Can any one re- 
member as strong and interesting a personality 
among landscape architects? 

The author's treatment of his subject in his 
book on landscape gardening is simple. He lays 
down, or rather hints and intimates, as the title 
of the book indicates, principles and ideas that 
should control, in chapters devoted to the laying- 
out of a park, to enclosures or fences, to the lo- 
cation of buildings, to the making of country 
estates, to trees and shrubs and their grouping, 
to roads and paths, water features, islands, rocks, 
grading, maintenance; all of which are illus- 
trated by examples taken from the estate of 
Muskau. 

He evidently did not overestimate the value of 
plans, excellent as his own were, deeming them 
frequently deceptive. Personal superintendence 
of the work, supplementing and developing still 
further the ideas of the plan, evidently for him 



xxxviii Editor's Introduction 



were of prime importance. Some things he says 
about construction of roads and paths and the 
management of plants, trees, and shrubs, etc., 
might well be revised in the light of the im- 
provements that necessarily come with the ex- 
perience of nearly a hundred years, but it is 
astonishing, at the same time, to find how much 
of his advice agrees with the best practice of 
modern days. 

Indeed, when all is said that can be said about 
Piickler's limitations, the question is still in 
order, where else, except in his pages and those 
of Whately, can be found an equally fine pres- 
entation of the great art of landscape architec- 
ture? Others writing on the same subject will 
even seem to some, by comparison, dry and aca- 
demic. Frederick Law Olmsted, almost alone, 
has written passages that emit a like sparkle of 
genius. Poetically inspired words and wit and 
wisdom continually emerge from Prince Piick- 
ler's strange, mystical meditations. He cannot 
help writing in this vein even on what would be 
ordinarily considered quite prosaic subjects, as 
shown by the following quotation : — 

What the gold backgrounds of the old masters, which 
set out the sweet, lovable faces of madonnas and saints 
in so ideal a manner, are to religious pictures, green, 
luxuriant grass spaces are to a landscape. 

Here, too, is a quotation, illustrative of what 
I mean, which is decidedly quaint and original 
and certainly poetical, far and away different 



Editor's Introduction xxxix 

from what one would expect to find in this par- 
ticular context : — 

Even so one might compare a higher garden art 
with music and, at least as fitly as architecture has been 
called " frozen music," to call garden art " growing 
music." It, too, has its symphonies, adagios, and alle- 
gros, which stir the senses with vague but powerful emo- 
tions. Further, as Nature offers her features to the 
landscape gardener for use and choice, so does she of- 
fer to music her fundamental tones; beautiful like the 
human voice, the song of birds, the thunder of the 
tempest, the roaring of the hurricane, the bodeful wail- 
ing of branches — ugly sounds like howling, bellowing, 
clattering, and squeaking. Yet the instruments bring 
all these out and work, according to circumstances, ear- 
splitting sounds in the hands of the incompetent, en- 
trancing when arranged by the artist in an orderly whole. 
The genial Nature painter does the same. He studies 
the manifold material given him by Nature and by his 
art works the scattered parts into a beautiful whole, 
whose melody flatters the senses, but unfolds its high- 
est powers and yields the greatest enjoyment only when 
harmony has breathed true soul into the work. 

Furthermore, it may be said, in addition to 
these conclusions of Prince Piickler, that enter- 
ing more deeply and widely into the heart of 
Nature than either painting, music, or sculpture, 
landscape architecture "is a union of many di- 
verse elements, all constantly changing and act- 
ing upon each other, such as we see in some fair 
meadow, lit by sunshine after rain, wherein all 
things, — from the chemical ingredients of the 
grasses, and the lines of the flowers, to the con- 
stituents of the stream that flows through it, to 



xl Editor's Introduction 

the colors of the sky and the cloud shadows, and 
the songs of the birds and the humming of the 
little insects, and the quiver of the butterfly- 
wings, — and each and all affected and affecting 
each other, yet unite to create a whole which 
has a deeper harmony than other arts, because it 
is alive and changes in all its parts from moment 
to moment." 

The age in which Piickler lived was not ex- 
actly that of great or original architects. This 
was the case particularly in Germany. It was the 
period of learning and versatility, and was chiefly 
imitative in the character of its art, and essen- 
tially classic. Schinkel planned a replica of the 
Parthenon at Athens to be erected in the Crimea. 
It is difficult to understand how Prince Puckler 
could have been so carried away by his admiration 
of Schinkel whose fame has not come down to us 
with any real distinction. Schinkel's undoubted 
versatility both in architecture and painting and 
his great learning in Greek art gave him vogue at 
the time. It is probable that many of the extra- 
ordinary conceptions found in Piickler's flower 
designs, bridges, and temples, fortunately seldom 
carried out, owe their objectionable features to 
the influence, if not the pencil, of Schinkel. 

It is seldom, indeed, that we find a landscape 
architect of parts who is also a really competent 
architect, and the reverse is likewise true. At 
first thought, it might seem quite feasible to com- 
bine the work of the two professions, but, in 
actual practice, the attempt generally fails. Cer- 



Editor's Introduction xli 

tainly Le Notre did not succeed. Calvert Vaux 
was a trained architect originally, but his abid- 
ing reputation is entirely based on his work as a 
landscape architect in designing Central Park, 
New York, and other great parks of a similar 
character. Mr. Olmsted, perhaps the greatest of 
our latter-day landscape architects, never at any 
time undertook to assume the role of architect. 

On the other hand, it is doubtful whether any 
eminent architect of the present day would as- 
sume to lay out an entire park or country estate. 
He does undertake to lay out gardens (called, it 
is true, by Piickler "extensions of the house") 
with a limited measure of success, for how can 
he design a garden with intelligence, without an 
intimate knowledge of plants which he rarely 
has. A garden should be something more than 
a problem of architecture. 

It may be claimed and is claimed by most 
landscape architects that landscape architecture, 
like all work which seeks to deal with live Na- 
ture, requires unity of idea everywhere, and that, 
with many differences, parks and gardens should 
be considered fundamentally the same. In the 
case of both gardens and parks the landscape 
architect deals with simple, open spaces, and in- 
tricate, complicated, crowded spaces, with high 
and low trees and shrubs, perennials and bedding 
plants and grasses, each requiring artistic rela- 
tions, one with the other. 

In reviewing the various designs of Piickler, 
it is interesting to note that some of the excel- 



xlii Editor's Introduction 

lent advice that he gives is disregarded in the 
actual designs that he proposes to use, and actu- 
ally used, in some cases, in his park. No one, it 
must be remembered, however, is entirely con- 
sistent in his ideas nor is it desirable he should 
be so. Certainly Piickler with his peculiar genius 
could not be expected to be a paragon of con- 
sistency. What Piickler writes on Italian villas 
shows how instinctively his good taste leads him 
to right conclusions. He says: — 

In general, a certain irregularity is preferable in build- 
ings in a park, as being more in conformity with Nature 
and more picturesque. . . . This same principle ap- 
pears in the designs of the ancient villas. . . . Traces of 
this principle are also found in the Italy of the Renais- 
sance, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries : buildings 
half hidden by others, large and small windows on the 
same face of the building, side doors, projecting and 
receding corners, . . . cornice, roofs jutting out, and 
balconies unsymmetrically placed, in short, everywhere 
a great but by no means inharmonious irregularity, 
which pleases the fancy because the reason for every 
departure from regularity is evident or may be sur- 
mised. The garden art of the Romans, which, through 
the study of the classical writers, and especially through 
the description which Pliny gives of his villa, again 
came into practice in the fifteenth century in Italv, and 
which has later, in the so-called French gardens, altered 
into colder, less comfortable forms, deserves particular 
consideration on this very point. This rich and sump- 
tuous art, which may be called an extension of the art 
of architecture from the house to the garden, — or, as 
the English might say, the approach of the landscape 
to the very doors of the house, — may be most suitably 
applied to this purpose. 



Editor's Introduction xliii 

It should be said, however, that many of 
Puckler's most extravagant garden designs were 
never carried out, either by himself at the time, 
or by others at a later date, and to-day there is 
little that is bizarre or offensive to good taste to 
be seen at Muskau. The ideas of Puckler which 
are essential to the development of his original 
and comprehensive design have been unquestion- 
ably, to a large extent, realized and retained. 
Puckler has this paragraph in his book : — 

To avoid all misunderstanding, I repeat that, in or- 
der not to break the thread of my description at every 
moment, much which is only proposed has to be de- 
scribed as though already complete ; and that hardly 
one third of the place has been so far carried out, al- 
though perhaps three quarters of the work has been 
done. 

The difficulties he had to overcome were enor- 
mous, as explained in his journeys with the reader 
around his estate. 

Puckler's passionate love of trees and his pride 
in his ancestors is illustrated by the following 
passage, which, on account of its peculiarly 
characteristic quality, seems to demand special 
mention in these preliminary pages: — 

The finest forms of mountains and lakes, the bril- 
liancy of the sun and sky, combined with the naked rocks 
and bare lakes, cannot replace meadows and the . . . 
diversified, pleasing green and rich foliage. Fortunate the 
man to whom his forbears have bequeathed lofty woods 
of old oaks, beeches, and lindens, these proud giants 
of our Northern clime, standing still untouched by the 
woodman's murderous axe. He should never regard 



xliv Editor's Introduction 

them without veneration and delight, he should cher- 
ish them as the apple of his eye, for neither money 
nor power, neither a Croesus nor an Alexander, can 
restore an oak a thousand years old in its wonderful 
majesty after the poor laborer has felled it. Terrible 
and swift is the destructive power of man, but poor 
and weak is his power to rebuild. May an ancient tree 
be to you, kind reader, who love Nature, a holy thing. 

The concluding paragraph of the book makes 
a fine ending to his dissertation on his much- 
loved pursuit : — 

For when once the landowner has begun to idealize 
his property, he will soon become aware that cultiva- 
tion of the soil will secure for him not only pecuniary 
advantage, but also real artistic delight, and how thank- 
ful Nature is to him who dedicates his powers with love. 
So then, if each one does his best for his own tirelessly 
and thoroughly, and the thousand facets combine easily 
and well to form one ring, the lovable dream of the St. 
Simonians might become true of a universal cult of our 
mother earth. For this purpose, however, it would be 
well to turn aside a little from these sad politics, which 
absorb everything and give so little in return, and 
revert a little more to happy art, whose service is in 
itself a reward ; since for the ruling of the State we can- 
not all strive. But to seek to improve himself and his 
property is in the power of each one of us, and it is even 
a question whether in such a simple manner, in honest 
and homely endeavor, the so-much-desired freedom 
may not be attained with more calm and safety than by 
the many experiments in superficial theoretic forms of 
State. For he only can be free who commands himself. 

The letters from England, however, form the 
best kind of introduction to the real Puckler and 



Editor's Introduction xlv 

his book on landscape gardening. There is noth- 
ing more informing of the growth and the aspi- 
rations and inspirations of a man than his letters 
to a close friend or dear relative, and the greater 
the man, the more ready, generally, and it seems 
in most cases, the more able, he is to reveal 
on paper his actual heart and soul, — cor ad cor 
loquitur. 

Samuel Parsons 



HINTS ON 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING 

AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 



Author's Introduction 



Permit us to bring the beautiful also into our de- 
sign: for I do not see why we should disassociate the 
beautiful from the useful, for what — to come to the 
point — what is useful ? Merely what nourishes us, warms 
us, and shelters us from the weather ? And why do we call 
such things useful? Only because they tolerably ad- 
vance the welfare of mankind? Yet the beautiful ad- 
vances it in a far higher and greater degree ; therefore 
among useful things the beautiful is the most useful of 
all. (VoM Regieren, German Memoirs.) 

IN the greater part of Germany, it must be 
admitted, we have scarcely yet awakened to 
the practical and successful pursuit of utilities, and 
but few have directed their intelligence and ener- 
gies, without consideration of advantage, to the 
beautiful ; a general, intelligent combination of 
both aims is yet rarer. 

This applies most of all to every kind of landed 
property, and it is certain that herein England 
has advanced beyond our level of civilization by 
nearly a century: what is there accomplished with 
ease, here remains all but impracticable. 

But it is time that our well-to-do landowners 
sought a closer rapprochement with the English 
system and without slavish imitation studied 
rather the intention than the form, always giving 
due consideration to the conditions of locality. 

If I cite England as an example, it is not be- 



4 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

cause it is the fashion, or from Anglomania, but 
from the firm conviction that England must for 
a long time remain an unattainable model in the 
art of a worthy, and, if the expression may be 
permitted, a gentlemanly [gentlemanartigeri^y en- 
joyment of life, especially with regard to coun- 
try life, in general "comfort" combined with the 
fullest appreciation of a noble sense of beauty in 
every form, as far removed from effeminate, Asi- 
atic voluptuousness as from Continental squalor 
and dirt, which has its origin, not in poverty, 
but in bad habits and neglected household arrange- 
ments. 

In this higher cultivation of the pleasures of 
life landscape gardening has also developed to an 
extent that no period and no other country seem 
to have known ; and, in spite of a generally 
gloomy and sunless climate, England has devel- 
oped it into the most delightful pursuit for the 
friend of Nature, for the connoisseur who loves 
her most when she appears in unison with the shap- 
ing hand of man, as the raw jewel first obtains 
its greatest beauty only through polish. I do not 
by this wish to say that Nature at her wildest, 
left alone to her simple, often sublime, and some- 
time even awful, grandeur, may not evoke the 
deepest, nay, the most religious, sentiments; but 
for lasting welfare human care and intelligence 
are indispensable. Even in painted landscape, we 
demand something which reminds us of human 
effort, — as we say, to animate it. Yet a far 
greater variety is required in real, than in painted. 




c< 



Author's Introduction 



landscape, and it is much more agreeable, as well 
as beneficial, to the feeling human heart when, 
as in England, we can admire in Nature, almost 
everywhere idealized by art, not only the palaces 
and gardens of the great in their pride and mag- 
nificence, but also, in harmonious whole, the modest 
dwellings of small farmers laid out with as much 
charm, and finished as completely. For they 
also, like the proud castles, peep sweetly out from 
primeval trees or repose on gay meadows, sur- 
rounded by blossoming shrubs, and show with 
equal clearness, by appropriate form and sober 
cleanliness, the delicate taste of their owners. 
The poorest can deck his straw hat with flowers 
and tend, after his daily work, a well-kept garden, 
however small, where naught but velvet lawn 
grows, " 'midst rose and jessamine odors." 

Must we not be filled with a real sense of 
shame when we look for a counterpart here and 
still find the greater part of our country seats 
whose chief view looks on the manure heap, at 
whose gates for the greater part of the day swine 
and geese disport themselves, and whose interiors 
can show, as an attempt at cleanliness, only com- 
mon boards strewn with sand? 

I have frequently seen in my Fatherland in 
North Germany very well-to-do persons, owners 
of hundreds of thousands of marks, living in such 
pseudo-castles — mansions, as they called them — 
as an English farmer no doubt would without 
hesitation have taken for stables. 

Is such a place the seat of a gentleman? A 



6 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

property embellished by the cabbage garden, 
usually close to the house, with at the most a few 
carnations and single lavender plants surrounding 
his onions and beet roots; alleys of crooked fruit 
trees sadly hemmed in by cabbages and turnips! 
Should a few old oaks or limes from his fore- 
fathers' day have withstood the tooth of time, 
then the good husbandman seldom fails to rob 
them of their foliage for his sheep, so that they 
stand there like naked victims, stretching out 
their branches to heaven, as if for vengeance. 

Yet more painful is it when the owner, bitten 
by the fashion, has conceived the notion of 
laying out his gardens in so-called English style. 
The straight roads are then turned into cork- 
screw forms which are just as mechanical, ser- 
pentining in the most tedious manner through 
young birches, poplars, and larches, and gener- 
ally either impassable after every shower from 
mud, or in dry weather making the visitor wade 
perspiring through loose sand. A few exotic 
shrubs, which grow badly and are much less 
beautiful than native ones, are planted, mixed 
with young firs on the borders. After a few years 
they encumber the ground, have to be lopped, 
later on lose their lower branches, and thus pre- 
sent to our view only bare stems with the naked 
earth between, while on the spaces left open the 
badly nourished grass and stumpy exotics give a 
picture neither of a free natural, nor of an arti- 
ficial, garden. 

If the plan is more seriously carried out and 



Author's Introduction 7 

on a larger scale, the imperceptibly flowing ditch 
is widened to what is called a stream, a gigantic 
bridge is built of rough birch trunks in a formid- 
able arch over the modest brook, two or three 
stiff avenues are cut through the wood to give 
distant views, and here and there the much- 
affected temples and ruins are dotted about, of 
which the first usually become in a short space 
what the second pretend to be. 

This, with a few exceptional cases, is as a rule 
the highest achievement of such an undertaking, 
which really only causes regret that good land 
should be so uselessly withdrawn from field and 
vegetable culture. 

Meanwhile all this has been ridiculed with 
more or less wit often enough, but it is seldom 
better done, even now, and for this reason alone do 
I here repeat, that many great and costly plans, 
begun with the best intentions and executed at 
some expense, unfortunately too evidently bear 
traces of the very poor place which the art of 
landscape gardening as yet holds in our Father- 
land. It is true that there are a few exceptions, 
but a completed example which could be set be- 
side the best English plans has not come within 
my experience. We may hope, however, that the 
royal gardens, under the direction of the excel- 
lent director, Lenne, which are to surround all 
Potsdam with a park, will present us with such 
an example. 

Far from intending to instruct in any exhaus- 
tive manner on this subject, a fairly long prac- 



8 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

tical experience, the careful study of excellent 
examples, combined with a passionate love for 
the subject and the earnest perusal of the best 
works on the art of gardening in its widest sense, 
have enabled me, I think, to give some valuable 
hints and to draw up some useful rules, which 
will appear to the expert not quite unworthy and 
which may appear opportune to some dilettante 
in Nature-painting, if I may so call the creation 
of a picture, not with colors, but w- ith real woods, 
hills, meadows, and streams, and which may put 
it in the category of the arts. For rightly under- 
stood and judiciously carried out, these sugges- 
tions may put one in a position, without having 
to travel the costly and difficult road of experi- 
ence, to entrust to the park director, engineer, 
inspector, gardener, or whatever he may be called, 
merely the technical execution of his own ideas, 
and thus himself present a work of art, sprung 
from his own individuality, formed out of his 
own temperament, instead of having a garden or 
rather a region made, as one orders a suit of 
clothes at the tailor's. 

Much will be found, if not familiar, yet per- 
haps not exactly new, and many an idea may 
have been better expressed, especially in English 
works, which, however, are apt to be tediously 
prolix and to dilute every millionth part of salt 
with a caskful of water.* 

' When this work was nearly finished, my attention was drawn to 
a manual on the same theme, recently published in Leipsic. I was pre- 
pared to suppress my work, but tbund on perusal of the manual, noth- 
ing but a laborious compilation of badly digested recipes from English 



Author's Introductioi 



The compression and brevity which I have 
aimed at in matters of common knowledge will, 
I hope, earn the gratitude of the reader, but as 
a small merit I may claim that really nothing 
has been copied from books, but that everything 
which I give has been found to be true from per- 
sonal experience and practically verified. 

For the better understanding of what follows 
it will be necessary briefly to give the manner in 
which I intend ordering my remarks. 

I shall show by titles in their order the con- 
tents of each chapter, and for this I shall for the 
most part utilize the park laid out by myself, 
since my theory, as I have said, is chiefly carried 
out in this park- 
Drawings, which make the text more read- 
able, have been inserted wherever necessary for 
complete comprehension. A thorough exposi- 
tion of general principles is followed by a short 
history and description of the park itself, with 
continual reference to the rules previously laid 
down. It is not, however, my intention to go 
into too great detail, but to set forth the results 
obtained rather than the particular road taken, 
and, as the title "Hints" shows, in no way to 
give a complete manual, confining myselt to 
those matters in which we seem to be chiefly 
lacking, and finally leave to the technical work- 
man or expert whatever lies in his province. 

works. What Blumenbach said of phrenology applies to this book: 
"The true is not new, and the new is not true." Repton has sup- 
plied most of the useful matter, but, for the most part, it has been mie- 
understood. 



PART FIRST 

HINTS ON LANDSCAPE GARDENING 
IN GENERAL 



Chapter I 

The Laying-out of a Park 



THE indispensable foundation for the build- 
ing of a park is a controlling scheme.' It 
should be begun and carried out with entire con- 
sistency. It is therefore necessary to have it thor- 
oughly thought out from the first, and guided all 
the way through by one controlling mind, a mind 
that should make use of the thoughts of many 
others, welding them into an organic whole so 
that the stamp of individuality and unity shall 
never be lost. But let me not be misunderstood; 
a general plan should govern the whole ; there 
must be no room for random work ; in every de- 
tail the guiding, creating brain must be seen; and 
it is essential that the scheme should originate 
from the special circumstances of the artist, from 
the experience and conditions of his life or the 
former history of his family, limited by the lo- 
cality with which he has to deal. I do not ad- 
vise, however, that the whole plan should be 
worked out in exact detail at first and doggedly 

' One principle should, above all, underlie the art of park design; 
namely, the creation, from the material at hand, out of the place as it 
stands, of a concentrated picture having Nature as its poetical ideal; 
the same principle which, embodied in all other spheres of art, makes 
of the true work of art a microcosm, a perfect, self-contained world in 
little. 



14 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

maintained to the end. I would, to a large ex- 
tent, recommend just the opposite ; for even 
if the main scheme comprehends many features 
which may be considered from the start, in work- 
ing it out, the artist must continually follow the 
inspiration of his imagination. From time to 
time the painter will alter his picture (which, 
after all, is much less complicated than the pic- 
ture the landscape gardener has to create), here 
and there making a part more true to the gen- 
eral effect or to Nature, here improving a tone, 
there giving more accent, more power to a line. 
Why, then, should the landscape gardener, who 
works in material so refractory, so changeable, 
and often so impossible to estimate in advance, 
and who, moreover, has to unite many different 
pictures in one, — why should he be expected 
to succeed in hitting the mark at the first at- 
tempt infallibly? Much will be discovered as 
he goes on studying, observing, both within and 
without the confines of the place, — the light 
effects on his raw material (for light is one of 
his chief assets), establishing cause and effect, 
and thereby finding new ways of working out 
in detail his early motives, or giving them up 
altogether if other ideas for the treatment of 
parts occur to him as being better. 

To leave, undisturbed, some particular feature 
which has proved a failure, is pitiable. The rea- 
son the blemish is left is because it has cost 
so much time, so much money, and because a 
change would add to the expense, costing as much 



The Laying-out of a Park 15 

again or even more. Constant discipline is indis- 
pensable in the proper exercise of any art, and 
when means are not sufficient to treat every part 
of a park as it should be treated, what money 
there is had better be devoted toward the im- 
provement of the old established features than to 
the making of new ones. The postponing of al- 
terations which are recognized as advisable is a 
dangerous proceeding also, because existing faults 
easily lead to the wrong treatment of new fea- 
tures. 

It has been truly said that " artistic produc- 
tion is a matter of conscience"; hence a person 
with an artistic conscience cannot remain con- 
tent with parts that have been recognized as not 
up to the standard, or as failures. Following the 
example of Nature, which starts and completes 
her humblest work with the same assiduous care 
that she bestows upon her most sublime crea- 
tions, one would rather make any sacrifice than 
leave the blemish one has become aware of, even 
if in itself it is but a subordinate matter. 

Although in my work at Muskau I never de- 
parted a moment from the main idea which I 
shall have occasion later to describe, yet I con- 
fess that many portions have not only been re- 
touched, but that they have been entirely changed, 
often once, sometimes three and even four times. 
It would be a great error to suppose that confu- 
sion results from repeated alterations undertaken 
with intelligence, for sound reasons and not from 
caprice. Rather than that they should be un- 



1 6 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

dertaken from pure caprice it would certainly be 
best never to have alterations for improvement, 
in general the dictum, nonum prematur in annuniy 
holds good. One must never rest with correcting 
and refining until the best possible results have 
been attained ; a principle never to be relinquished 
and which oftentimes alone proves to be the great 
teacher/ 

One can see from this how unwise it is to 
invite a strange artist for some days or weeks, or 
even months, with the view of making a plan in 
which every road and every plantation, the com- 
manding features and all the details, are exactly 
fixed; and worse still, to send such a person 
merely a survey of the place, he having no knowl- 
edge of the character of the region, of the efl^ects 
of hill and dale, of high or low trees in the im- 
mediate foreground or in the distance, so that he 
may proceed at once to draw on submissive paper 
his lines, which, no doubt, may look very pretty 
and well there, but which realized into facts are 
bound to achieve at best an inappropriate and 
unsatisfactory design. One who intends to build 
up a landscape must do so out of the actual ma- 

' Some years ago, when I was showing my place to a lady of intel- 
ligence and understanding, she modestly remarked that she understood 
but little of the matter ; that she could call to mind many more pic- 
turesque, grandiose places than mine, but that here, with the general 
impression of quietness and simplicity, something new appealed to her at 
every turn. No remark could have been more flattering to me, and if 
her opinion is well founded I may consider my work truly successful, 
a result which may be attributed largely to the two principles followed: 
to have one main idea, and yet never to allow any feature to remain 
which had proved in any way to be a failure. 



The Laying-out of a Park 17 

terials from which that particular landscape is to 
be created, and he must be familiar with them 
in every particular. Both in plan and execution 
he works quite otherwise than does the painter 
on his canvas ; he deals with realities. The beauty 
of a bit of real Nature, which by the art of the 
painter can only be partly hinted at, cannot on a 
plan be given at all. I am inclined to believe, on 
the contrary, that, except in a very flat region 
where no views are possible and where little can 
be achieved anyhow, a plan which is agreeable 
to look at, with lines pleasing to the eye, cannot 
truly stand for beauty in Nature. My experience 
is that in order to achieve fine results in landscape 
gardening one is often obliged to select lines 
which in a plan drawn on paper have no charm. 



Chapter II 



Size and Extent 



FOR the landscape architect to achieve a great 
effect, it is not necessary that a park should 
be large. An extended estate is often so bungled, 
so belittled by incompetent treatment, that, lack- 
ing in unity, it appears quite small. I may here 
remark, by the way, that I think Michael An- 
gelo was totally wrong when he said about the 
Pantheon, "Ye marvel at it on the earth, I will 
set it in the heavens." He meant thereby to 
achieve a more imposing effect, and as he said, 
so he did. He gave to the dome of St. Peter's 
the same size as that of the Pantheon, but how 
unfortunate is the result ! The dome of St. 
Peter's, looming up in the air above the enor- 
mous masses of the building, appears in propor- 
tion small and insignificant, while the dome of 
the old Pantheon, placed on the right base, ap- 
pears after centuries as sublime as the arch of the 
firmament. 

Poised on the summit of Mont Blanc the 
Pyramids would hardly appear as large as sentry 
boxes, and Mont Blanc itself, seen from the dis- 
tant plains, looks like a little snow-hill. Large 
and small are, therefore, relative terms. It is not 
from the thing itself that we judge, but from its 



Size and Extent 19 

appearance in given surroundings, and it is here 
that landscape architecture has the widest of fields. 
For instance, a tree a hundred feet high, which 
in the middle distance hardly rises above the 
horizon, will at a short distance tower above it ; 
hence, with intelligent management, with due 
appreciation of the value that a relation of fore- 
ground has to distance, it is possible to give 
character and expression to the landscape and to 
secure an effect of grandeur and extent. 

I cannot help remarking here that if I have 
always held up as a model the general appear- 
ance of English parks, which testify to a uni- 
versally diffused taste for park culture and em- 
bellishment, I still believe that in many ways 
England might have done much better. It seems 
to me that with much beauty most English 
parks have one blemish which makes them, on 
long acquaintance, rather tedious and monoto- 
nous. I have in mind neither the English " pleas- 
ure-grounds" nor their gardens, — which are full 
of variety, — but their parks. For instance, in re- 
gard to the deliberate treatment of these parks as 
features laid out on a diminutive scale, the effect 
seems to be altogether inadequate when com- 
pared to the grandeur and magnificence of the 
open country around them. Indeed, in my opin- 
ion, the outside country not infrequently resem- 
bles far more a region ennobled by art in variety 
than the parks. 

Many English parks are in fact nothing but 
interminable meadows serving as pastures for 



20 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

numerous herds, either of tame deer, sheep, cat- 
tle, or horses, with a few picturesquely arranged 
groups of lofty old trees. The first view of such 
noble spaces is imposing. One has the impression 
of a splendid picture, but it is the same picture 
and the impression therefore is always the same. 
Many blemishes become evident in the detail. All 
tree-trunks being browsed upon up to a certain 
height by the cattle (often with an effect quite 
as regular as if trimmed with shears), much and 
needed variety of form is lost. The shrubbery 
cannot be preserved without special enclosures; 
and hence it is needed to diversify the scene, and 
help make, within the picture of the ensemble, 
many subordinate ones ; indeed, every newly 
planted tree must be enclosed ; and such artificial 
enclosures gives to the picture a very stiff look. 
A single path usually leads through these wide 
grassy expanses to and from the castle, which, 
in the middle of the lawn, stands bald and cold 
in lonely majesty while cows and sheep browse 
.up to the marble steps leading to it. It would 
not be surprising if the visitor, feeling quite for- 
lorn in such monotonous and lonely grandeur, 
should be under the impression that he had come 
upon a bewitched region no longer inhabited by 
man, where John Bull had been really trans- 
formed into the shape of a beast. This effect 
could easily be avoided if allotted spaces were 
set apart for cattle as well as for deer, instead of 
having the whole park given over to them. It 
seems to have become a fixed idea with the 



Size and Extent 21 

English that a landscape without cattle is bound 
to be melancholy, and, on the other hand, they 
consider the animation by human beings to be 
proportionately objectionable, and private gar- 
dens are, as a rule, barred to the stranger.^ The 
democratic, humane use of our great German 
estates is foreign to them, but their excuse is 
perhaps to be found in the roughness of their 
mob. 

I have previously stated the proposition that 
size is not an absolutely necessary element in the 
making of a park ; yet, where possible, I think 
it very desirable, in order that a greater variety 
of parts may be gained, a quality which will 
always present the supreme charm of novelty. 
Laid out with equal intelligence I should always 
prefer the more extensive to the smaller park, 
even if the latter should be more favored bv 
Nature. In Prussia, where land has so much less 
value than in other countries, such large estates 
are easily obtainable, and I advise every one of 
my countrymen to strive for large places. It is 
certain that, considered as a little world sufficient 
unto itself, a park where one cannot ride or 
drive for an hour at least without going over the 
same roads, and which does not comprise many 
roads and walks, very soon tires one, if confined 
to it alone. But where a rich, picturesque Nature 
has already idealized the region around and has 
made it, as it were, into a great work of art, as 
in the case of many parts of Switzerland, Italy, 

' This is not the case at the present time. 



22 Hints on Landscape Gardening 



South Germany, or Silesia, then I am, on the 
whole, of the opinion that projects of parks are 
hors d'oeuvre. It would be like a little landscape 
in the corner of a magnificent Claude Lorrain. 
There one's work should be confined to the lay- 
ing-out of good roads, that the enjoyment of 
such rare scenery may be made easier, here and 
there taking down some isolated trees in order 
to open views which are hidden by Nature, 
always indifferent to the display of her beauties. 
Near the house, however, one should seek for 
the charm of a garden of modest proportions, 
which, whenever possible, would contrast with 
Nature around. In such a garden one should 
have in view, not so much the variety of a land- 
scape, as comfort and charm, safety and elegance. 
The garden art of the Romans, which, through 
the study of the classical writers, and especially 
through the description which Pliny gives of his ^ 
villa, again came into practice in the fifteenth 
century in Italy, and which was later, in the so- 
called French gardens, altered into colder, less 
comfortable forms, deserves particular considera- 
tion on this very point. This rich and sumptu- 
ous art, which may be called an extension of the 
art of architecture from the house to the garden, 
— or, as the English might say, the approach of 
the landscape to the very doors of the house, — 
may be most suitably applied to this purpose. 
Imagine, for instance, among the precipices and 
waterfalls, the dark pine woods and blue glaciers 
of mountainous Switzerland, a classical, antique 



Size and Extent 



23 



building, a palace from the Strada Balbi, sump- 
tuous in its decorative flourishes, surrounded with 
high terraces, with rich, multi-colored parterres 
of flowers, studded with marble statues and alive 
with the movement of waters, — what a contrast 
would this be to the tremendous, naked grandeur 
of the setting of mountains ? A few steps aside 
in the woods, and palace and gardens would have 
vanished from view, as by niagic, to make room 
again for the undisturbed loneliness and majestic 
wilderness of Nature. Farther on, perhaps, a 
bend in the road would open up an unexpected 
vista, where, in the distance, the work of art, 
like a realized fairy dream, would show through 
the dark firs, glowing in the light of the setting 
sun, or rising over the mysterious darkness of the 
valley in a mass where, here and there, the tiny 
sparkles of lighted candles would glow. Would 
not such a picture be wonderful, and owe its 
chief beauty largely to contrast } When Nature 
offers new material, the scheme must be differ- 
ent; then the park, an oasis in a broad, flat space, 
must first create its own environment. Although 
the same laws are everywhere the foundation of 
beauty, they have to be interpreted and expressed 
in various ways. In such a case, where no im- 
pression by great contrasts can be achieved, one 
must carefully seek to create a pleasant and gen- 
tle harmony, bringing the few large elements, 
such as distant views, into correspondence with 
the character given to the park. The size of the 
domain then becomes a chief consideration. In 



24 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

the former example it is necessary to embellish 
only a single spot to make all surrounding Na- 
ture serve one's own purpose. Here, the treat- 
ment should extend to the whole region. Exam- 
ples which lie between these two schemes will 
require modifications of both propositions and 
should be tastefully treated according to the re- 
spective localities. In all these cases the princi- 
ples I have laid down are basic ones. 



Chapter III 



Enclosure 



1HAVE often heard the opinion expressed that 
nothing is more contrary to the way of Nature 
— to which, after all, landscape gardening seeks 
to conform itself — than the enclosure of a park; 
but I think otherwise, and quite approve of the 
English fashion of having every park enclosed 
with great care. This enclosure, however, should 
be varied and in large part it should not be felt 
inside the park. At bottom this question of en- 
closure is rather a matter of expediency than of 
esthetics, and yet as an element of beauty I do 
not condemn it. Are not such beautiful, unculti- 
vated spots marked off as it were by distinct 
boundaries, and does not such a division often 
increase their charm ? For example, a valley shut 
in by a dense forest or by impassable rocks, an 
island surrounded by running water, give the feel- 
ing of home, of entire possession, of security 
against intrusion or disturbance, allowing us to 
enjoy all the more comfortably the beauty of the 
surroundings. And, therefore, in a park the pres- 
ence of a protecting wall or fence should be wel- 
comed as a highly desirable element, necessary, 
in excluding the unwelcome intruder, for the 
peace and security of our enjoyment, but which 



26 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

should be so designed as to permit our going out 
from the park into the surrounding country. 
Hence the sight of an enclosure can be obnox- 
ious only to those who hold so exaggerated a 
notion of freedom that, hating everything that 
bears the name of barrier, they would wish to 
overturn even imaginary barriers! In England, 
as I have said before, not only every park, but, 
on account of the precious cattle, every section 
of it, every coppice and every exposed young 
tree, is surrounded with a fence, and though, 
from being carried to excess, this disturbs the 
general effect, I have frequently found that here 
and there a fence is very picturesque, especially 
where the character of the landscape changes, the 
fence then preparing the mind for new impres- 
sions and affording an easy transition to new scenes. 
So for security's sake let our parks have an en- 
closure high and strong, assuming that this is 
possible — for, to be sure, just as French cookery 
books very wisely begin their receipts with " Ayez 
une carpe, ayez un perdreau, etc.," I preface my 
advice with the proviso that, locality being favor- 
able and means at hand, the park should be en- 
closed. But inasmuch as the heavier and bigger 
the wall, the worse as a rule, is its appearance, and 
bearing in mind also that it is a great mistake to 
limit the field of fancy by too familiar a view of 
its limits, a close and broad plantation should 
hide the greater part of it. If such a barrier is 
made by a wooden fence, it should never be seen, 
but supplied with interesting points at intervals. 



Enclosure 27 

and a deep ha-ha or ditch alongside, while all 
the abruptness of the hollow thus made can be 
avoided by covering it with varied plantations. 
The paths should approach this ha-ha or ditch 
only when — for instance, by means of a small 
bridge — one wishes to sally forth through an 
opening into the surrounding country. The 
method of screening the bridge and the bound- 
aries should be as varied as possible. In one place 
the foliage should run two or three hundred paces 
along the boundaries, showing a high plantation 
of trees; in other places again, it should be made 
up of narrower and lower groups of trees, so that 
over and beyond one can catch glimpses of the 
outside country. In other places, these distant 
views should be visible above coppices and under 
isolated trees, standing among but high above 
the shrubbery. If a wall surrounds the park, this 
can, at intervals, be allowed freely to emerge, bro- 
ken only by scattering bushes and trees, and will 
look best in a ruined or unkempt state, covered 
with ivy and Virginia creeper, or the foliage 
may be merged into a building, a gallery, etc. 
Under such conditions the wall will never be a 
disturbing influence, but an improvement. 

If the locality permits, — probably only in a 
few cases, — I would propose the following plan 
as my ideal for an enclosure for our climate, 
although I could follow it only in certain por- 
tions of my estate. On the boundaries of the 
park, wherever open views are not desirable, a 
trench one Ruthe (a rod = twelve feet) wide, should 



28 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

be dug and sown with blackthorn or acacia seed, 
which even in poor ground, in a few years makes 
an impenetrable mass. Next I should set a plan- 
tation of firs, mixed with a few deciduous leafed 
trees and bushes, so as to secure variety of color 
in summer. For the portions that are to be kept 
lower we must in our climate take juniper, yew, 
and medium-sized pine trees, and perhaps also 
the ordinary spruce and white fir, both of which 
may easily be kept low by trimming. Along this 
plantation on the boundary, sometimes broad, 
sometimes narrow, but hardly ever more than 
three Ruthen (three rods = thirty-six feet), should 
run irregularly a grass road thirty-six feet wide. 
On the side toward the interior of the park should 
begin the mixed plantation for forming a screen 
for the general view. Here deciduous leafed trees 
should predominate and in summer hide the too 
monotonous evergreen foliage which should be 
left conspicuous only where it is desirable. It is 
surprising how such an arrangement enlivens a 
park even in melancholy winters, and how the 
lawn or grass path even amid snow and ice, where 
everything else is bare, makes the most charming 
walk. The evergreen foreground, which covers 
the boundaries both winter and summer and bor- 
ders the grass path, gives color to the whole re- 
gion, thus supplying a quality much desired in 
winter days; [although a well-grouped and de- 
signed park should, during all seasons of the year, 
even without color satisfy our sense of beauty, 
especially in winter, when all ordinary decora- 




o 



Enclosure 29 

tion is absent, making an interesting picture by 
the harmony of its masses of trees, lawns, water, 
its pleasant lines of paths and banks. That the 
border plantation of pines and other evergreen 
trees should be made so as to give the appear- 
ance of a natural growth is obvious, and in the 
chapter on " Plantations " examples will be given 
in detail. Meanwhile the sketch in Plate I will 
make my views clearer, hta the green path from 
the park is practically hidden; at b it appears only 
as a cutting which loses itself in the shrubbery. 

Along the boundary wall of many English 
parks, carrying out in old times the work of 
Brown and his followers, there runs a path be- 
tween an almost regular band of foliage planted 
with shrubs and trees, so that the wall is often 
conspicuous between the tree-trunks. Brown may 
be called the Shakespeare of the art of garden- 
ing, but his work, while highly beautiful and 
poetical, was often crude, angular, and uncouth. 
This criticism is especially applicable to the work 
of those who, undertaking to follow his teach- 
ing, often imitated only his faults and were seldom 
able to achieve his beauties. 

My reader must not confound my plan with 
this English plan, as the green path that I advo- 
cate is a part of the lawn, and has no definite dis- 
tinction from the lawn, but simply melts into it. 
The English idea originated in the infancy of 
landscape gardening, when parks of such size 
were first laid out, and when it was a matter of 
vanity to make them appear as large as possible; 



30 



Hints on Landscape Gardening 



but the means defeated the end, since they osten- 
tatiously pointed out what they should have ar- 
tistically concealed. Apart from this enclosure, 
which is necessary for protection, it is obvious 
that every interesting feature of the distant land- 
scape should be included in the park, all outer 
rays concentrating into this focus. Distant views 
of great extent, lying away beyond the actual 
grounds, give an appearance ot measureless extent. 
When such opportunities are skillfully utilized, 
they greatly surpass the reality. They must, how- 
ever, be so managed that one should never be- 
come aware of the intervening park boundaries. 
Moreover, such special features should never be 
seen twice in the same way. For instance, many 
partial glimpses may be given of a distant hill, 
but only once should the hill be revealed in its 
entirety. The same applies to the town or city. 
Such effective planning, affording glimpses which 
tempt one's imagination and excite the pleasure 
of anticipation, and compositions in which each 
part is interdependent, are far more difficult to 
achieve than full revelations. When people stum- 
ble on a remarkably beautiful view and, after lin- 
gering long, remark, ** What a pity that great tree 
stands in the foreground, how much grander the 
view would be if it were absent," they would be 
much astonished if one did them the service to 
hew away the tree. They would have a stretch 
of country before them, but no longer a picture 
— for a garden in the great style is really a pic- 
ture gallery, and a picture demands a frame. 



Chapter IV 

Grouping in General^ and Buildings 



IN a landscape to be created, nearly all objects, 
large as well as small, call for a well-considered 
grouping. The best guide here is innate taste. 
Later on I will give some instructions as re- 
gards details, and will formulate here only the 
following general rule: If the lights and shadows 
are arranged in due proportion in the picture, the 
grouping as a whole will be successful. Grass- 
plots, water, and fields, which do not themselves 
throw any shadow, but only receive it from 
other objects, are lights in the hands of the 
landscape artist, while trees, forests, and houses 
(and rocks where they can be used) must serve 
as shadows. The unpleasant effect should be 
avoided of restlessness and dispersion arising 
from an excess of detail and too much inter- 
rupted light; and, on the other hand, the pic- 
ture should not be darkened by a few immense 
blotches of shadow, nor should the meadows and 
the water present too great an expanse of level 
space, but should be laid out so as to be lost to 
view here and there in dark groups of vegetation, 
or so as to appear suddenly as carefully calcu- 
lated points of light amid the darker ground- 
work. Buildings should never stand freely ex- 



32 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

posed, lest they appear as spots, unconnected with 
the natural surroundings. Concealment enhances 
beauty, and here something should always be left 
to the imagination. The eye frequently finds 
more pleasure in a single chimney in the dis- 
tance, with its spiral of gray smoke curling up- 
ward against a background of trees, than in a 
bare palace exposed to view on all sides, which 
Nature has not yet lovingly approached and em- 
braced. It is highly important that buildings 
should always take on the character of the land- 
scape in which they figure.' Many of our Ger- 
man architects regard this too little. Buildings in 
a citv, for instance, must be different from build- 
ings in a park. In the one case they are com- 
plete in themselves ; in the other, they are only 
a component part of the whole and are depend- 
ent on it for picturesque effect, which they in 
turn are also called upon to produce ; hence their 
effect in the landscape must be carefully studied. 
In general, a certain irregularity is preferable 
in buildings in a park, as being more in conform- 
ity with Nature and more picturesque. A temple 
devoted to a cult, a theater, a museum devoted 
to art, doubtless demand symmetry and a more 
severe style, but the mansion or villa gains by 
greater irregularity, in comfort as well as in pic- 
turesqueness. This same principle appears in the 

' A contrast may also occasionally fit in with the character of the 
whole, hut it must always harmonize, as I have pointed out in the ex- 
ample in the last section : the sublimity of wild nature and magnificent 
art. A pretty villa would not be a fitting contrast, while an imposing 
ruin would present an analogy, but no contrast. 



''''II-. 






^^.tl 



-f^'< 



•*f ' '«. /• ,!• . I 













Grouping in General, and Buildings 33 

designs of the ancient villas and country houses, 
as we may gather from the ruins. The most note- 
worthy example is perhaps the villa of Hadrian 
near Tivoli. Traces of this principle are also 
found in the Italy of the Renaissance, in the fif- 
teenth and sixteenth centuries: buildings half 
hidden by others, large and small windows on the 
same face of the building, side doors, projecting 
and receding corners, occasionally a high, bare 
wall with a richly ornamented cornice, roofs jut- 
ting out, and balconies unsymmetrically placed, 
in short, everywhere a great but by no means in- 
harmonious irregularity, which pleases the fancy 
because the reason for every departure from reg- 
ularity is evident or may be surmised. 

The site of a building must also be carefully 
considered. For instance, a feudal castle in the 
midst of a level field of grain, as we find at Ma- 
chern near Leipzig, appears somewhat comical ; 
and so is the Egyptian pyramid which is to be 
found there in the idyllic surroundings of a gay 
birch wood. As well imagine a straw-thatched 
hut surrounded by a French parterre. All these 
are undesirable contrasts that destroy the har- 
mony. For example, pointed Gothic buildings 
would make an unfavorable impression if set 
among spruces and Lombardy poplars, while 
among oaks, beeches, and pines they would be 
quite in place. On the other hand, spruces and 
poplars harmonize with the horizontal lines of 
an Oriental villa. 

The importance of harmonious beauty has for 



34 



Hints on Landscape Gardening 



its corollary that the purpose of a building must 
be evident in its style. A Gothic house, for in- 
stance, which is nothing else and has no other 
significance, being built just for the sake of hav- 
ing something Gothic on the grounds, produces 
a feeling of dissatisfaction. It is a hors d'ceuvre, 
uncomfortable as a dwelling, and as a decoration 
unrelated to its surroundings ; but if we see on a 
distant hill the spires of a chapel rising above 
the ancient trees, and we are told that this is the 
burial-place of the family, or a temple actually 
used for worship, then we feel satisfied, because 
we find utility combined with fitting beauty. 

The same effect of dissatisfaction is produced 
by an immense palace set on a small estate, sur- 
rounded by the huts of poverty, or a vast park 
with an insignificant cottage in the center. 

Buildings, then, must stand in appropriate re- 
lation to their surroundings and should always 
have a positive purpose. Hence, one should be 
very careful in the matter of temples, which in 
ancient times had a quite diflferent, popular re- 
ligious significance, and also with meaningless 
monuments, if they are to leave a deeply moving 
and not a trivial impression. The trite, incoher- 
ent manner in which in these days mythology is 
taken up, makes it desirable to abandon it en- 
tirely, and similarly to refrain from the rule of 
inscriptions which are intended in certain locali- 
ties to arouse certain sentiments. Even were they 
from Goethe himself, as in Weimar, these in- 
dubitably find in his writings a better place. 



Grouping in General, and Buildings 35 

Only where they are occasionally necessary, as 
on the finger-post at a crossroad, does one thank- 
fully acknowledge the required direction. The 
most amusing example under this heading must 
surely be the one represented in the " Gardeners' 
Magazine" by a fine drawing of a bench dedi- 
cated to friendship, whose back forms the words 
" Orestes and Pylades." Near it stands a music 
pavilion, crenelated with music notes, from 
which the passer-by can at once sing " Freut 
euch des Lebens" as he goes. Such a lesson is 
splendid, for it brings culture within the scope 
of the most limited intelligence. 

In England also one is not free from such ab- 
surdities. Thus, I found, in an otherwise very 
pretty villa near London, in the shrubbery a 
plump, wooden, white-daubed Amor, with puffed 
cheeks, hanging by ropes between branches, and 
threatening to shoot the passer-by with his arrow; 
and twenty steps farther on some apes of the 
same material, which played on the lawn like fos- 
silized figures. On inquiry I found that the taste- 
ful grounds belonged to a newly wed young 
brewer who had just returned from the Conti- 
nent with his bride; hence Amor and the Apes 
were sufficiently explained! 

The most important building in the park is 
naturally the dwelling-house. It should be suited, 
not only to the surroundings, but also to the posi- 
tion, the means, and even to the calling of the 
owner. The roomy castle and its battlements and 
towers are perhaps unsuitable to the merchant. 



36 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

but quite becoming to the noble aristocrat, the 
fame of whose family has been handed down for 
centuries, and whose forefathers really needed 
them to make strongholds of their abode. The 
elder Repton (Amenity Repton, so-named) went 
so far as to hide entirely with trees the fine view 
of the city of Bristol, in order that the owner of 
a certain villa, a merchant who had retired from 
business, should not be unpleasantly reminded of 
his past cares and worries by beholding the city 
where he had spent his laborious days. This is 
thoroughly English, as well as the endeavor of 
many egotists there to hide from view everything 
that belongs to their place, no matter how pic- 
turesque it is. Without going so far, I will say 
here that the view from the dwelling-house 
should harmonize as much as possible with the 
individual taste of the owner, since the eye al- 
ways rests on it, and hence the view of x\\q house 
should be secondary to the view from the house, 
while the reverse might hold good for most of 
the other buildings of the park. 

I will remark here, by the way, that the points 
of the compass should also be considered. A per- 
son in our climate occupying the north side of 
a dwelling will often hear the storm winds howl, 
and will behold all objects under a somber veil, 
while his neighbor who occupies the south side 
beholds a clear sky and a sunlit landscape. 

Where there are genuine old castles, or manor 
houses, which have been in the possession of the 
family for a long time (not new buildings in imi- 




u 



Grouping in General, and Buildings 37 

tation of an o/c/ style), I am of the opinion that 
their ancient character should be preserved when 
they are enlarged or made more comfortable, 
even if a much finer building might be erected 
on the spot. The memory of a by-gone time, 
the majesty of years, also counts for something, 
and it is a real misfortune that our pasteboard 
age has destroyed so many of these relics. Thus, 
quite recently a splendid castle in my neighbor- 
hood, the possession of one of the first nobles of 
the land, was pulled down at great cost and sup- 
planted by a three-cornered structure resembling 
a Leipzig goods store built by an up-to-date 
architect, in which the yard measure, flanked by 
bales and cases, would have been the only appro- 
priate insignia. 

The English have not yet been guilty of this 
folly, and nowhere else are family possessions 
more religiously and more proudly preserved. 
We also find there many estates of mere bour- 
geois families which for more than six centuries 
have passed from father to son, and with so little 
change in general that, for instance, in Malahide 
in Ireland, the family seat of the Talbots, even 
the woodwork and the furniture of entire apart- 
ments date back to those early years. And who 
can behold the splendors of majestic Warwick 
Castle, with its colossal tower a thousand years 
old, or the royal seat of the Duke of Northum- 
berland, without feeling penetrated with romantic 
awe, and without delighting in the matchless 
beauty of these grand piles? 



38 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

On the other hand, it is a mistake to erect 
buildings intended for peaceable dwellings in the 
style of a castle or stronghold. The most costly 
examples of this kind in England are Eatonhall 
and Ashridge, where millions have been spent 
in creating a child's toy, immense fortresses set 
in flower gardens, whose innumerable turrets and 
battlements looking down upon the hothouses 
filled with exotic plants seem ludicrous, and whose 
owners, in the words of a waggish traveler, should 
walk about their pleasure-grounds like Don 
Quixote, with shield and armor, to be in har- 
mony with their buildings. A dallying with 
things Gothic is as silly as a man in second child- 
hood. 



Chapter V 



Parks and Gardens 



PARKS and gardens are two very different 
things, and it is perhaps one of the chief 
drawbacks of all the German and English grounds 
that I know, that this distinction is almost never 
sufficiently observed, so that, as Milliner says, we 
too frequently meet with only a hodge-podge 
of art and nonsense. Although the term " park" 
in the larger sense is generally applied to the en- 
tire landscape design of the region, including 
all dwellings, it really means, more accurately de- 
fined, a combination of "pleasure-grounds" and 
gardens within the larger area of the main park.' 
The park must have the character of untrammeled 
Nature, where the hand of man is visible only in 
the well-kept roads and the judiciously scattered 
buildings. It seems to me, however, a lack of 
taste to ignore the human element altogether, 
and, in order to keep the illusion of wild Nature, 
to have to wade through the tall grass and tear 
one's self on thorns in the woods, and come upon 

' The word "pleasure-ground" is difficult to translate accurately 
into German, and I therefore consider it better to retain the English 
expression; it means a terrain, abutting on the house and decorated 
and fenced in, of far larger dimensions than gardens usually are; some- 
thing that establishes a gradation between the park and the true garden, 
which should appear to be really a part of the house. 



40 Hints on Landscape Gardening 



a bench for the weary without a rest for the back, 
although Rousseau recommends all this. Such 
grounds should represent Nature, it is true, but 
Nature arranged for the use and comfort of man. 
If one can bring within the park a manor house 
with its fields adjoining, a mill or a factory, this 
will give it only the more life and variety, which 
is much to be recommended; on the other hand, 
one must be careful not to overdo it. In order to 
avoid the latter, one should endeavor to separate 
the different elements by a harmonious arrange- 
ment of the various parts of the whole, and not 
mingle them awkwardly with one another. 

The fields, for instance, should be massed in 
the farm and not scattered all over the park ; 
everything should be allotted its distinct place 
and maintain its peculiar characteristics, and the 
transition should be appropriately defined. But 
if various objects have already approached too 
near each other, or if they are required for other 
purposes, then, in order to avoid overloading 
and confusion, let everything be given as much 
as possible the same character. In my park,' for 
example, a fisherman's hut leaning against high 
oaks is set beside a lake formed by a branch of 

» I will repeat here that I so frequently refer to my own park, not 
in a spirit of boastfulness, but because I can, of course, find no better 
illustrations for my theories, and I am also obliged to describe, as act- 
ually existing, things which are not in reality completed, but which are 
in process of construction and determined on the plans, as far as I have 
made them, because they have been sufficiently tried. I must do this 
for the sake of brevity, and also because I should otherwise have to 
wait ten more years before publishing this book, in which time, I hope, 
it might appear superfluous. 



Parks and Gardens 41 

the river ; somewhat higher up, not quite two 
hundred feet from the bank, which is steeper 
here, there is a wax bleachery ; quite close to 
this, are an ice-house and the lodge of a park 
keeper ; farther away on the other side of the 
river, still in the same vista, and apparently near, 
is an English cottage; and behind are seen the 
thatched roofs of the village, and, crowning all, 
the spire of the village church. 

If all these objects, which serve entirely dif- 
ferent purposes, and are either really very close 
together or are made to appear so from the road 
by optical illusion, were built, each one in a dif- 
ferent style, they would be a perfect salamagundi, 
offensive to good taste. In order to obviate this, 
it was only necessary to have all the buildings, 
with slight variations, preserve the rustic char- 
acter of the village, which is the dominating 
feature of this plot, and to cover the English 
cottage, the fisherman's hut, the bleachery, and 
the ice-house, like the village, with straw or 
some other rustic covering. Thus, the plot ap- 
pears as one integral part of the park, as a pleas- 
ant little village spreading out on both sides of 
the river, inhabited by well-to-do villagers. I 
have thus produced unity out of multiplicity ; 
twenty buildings, each with a character of its 
own, scattered over the landscape, look like 
twenty separate objects, while a city of ten thou- 
sand connected houses forms a simple unit in its 
general effect. 

Should the view embrace a stretch of land- 



42 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

scape, it is true that heterogeneous objects might 
without detriment be visible at one glance, yet 
the imagination can never succeed in accepting 
with satisfaction (what has been attempted in 
many parks, famous in their time) the conjunc- 
tion of a Chinese tower with a Gothic church, 
two or three Greek temples, a Russian block- 
house, a ruined castle, a Dutch farmhouse, with, 
perhaps, a volcano thrown in, all being part of 
one picture. In contemplating such a scene, no 
matter how beautiful the setting, taste could not 
but suffer from artistic indigestion ! 

On the other hand, the principles which should 
be established for the "pleasure-ground" and 
gardens are entirely different ; the latter may be 
as varied as possible, as flower gardens, winter 
gardens, orchards, vineyards, vegetable gardens, 
etc. In England I saw exotic gardens, Chinese 
gardens, American gardens, monastic, and even 
porcelain, gardens. 

I may repeat here with some variation what 
I have said before : as the park is Nature ideal- 
ized within a small compass, so the garden is an 
extended dwelling. Here the tastes of the owner 
may have free play, following his imagination 
and indulging even in trivialities.' Everything 
should be decorative, designed for comfort, and 

' Of course there may be things that are obvious absurdities. In a 
garden in Vienna, for instance, I saw a house in the shape of a tub in 
which sits an immense Diogenes of cardboard, who seems to have just 
extinguished his light in deference to the spectator; or elsewhere a 
bench, where a person who sits down upon it is drenched, after a few 
minutes, with a squirt of water, and other like impertinences. 



Parks and Gardens 43 

as ornamental as the means permit. Let the lawns 
appear as a velvet carpet embroidered with flow- 
ers ; gather together the rarest and the most 
beautiful exotic plants, curious animals, multi- 
colored birds ' (provided that Nature or art will 
enable them to thrive) ; polished benches, re- 
freshing fountains, the cool shades of dense ave- 
nues, order and fancy; in short, everything in 
turn to evoke the richest and most varied effects, 
just as one furnishes every salon in the interior 
of a house in a different style. Thus, one may 
continue the suite of rooms on a greater scale 
under the open sky, whose blue vault, with ever- 
renewed cloud canopy, takes the place of the 
painted ceiling, and in which sun and moon are 
the perpetual illumination. To draw up rules for 
such details is more in the province of the dec- 
orative gardener, still more of the individual 
taste of the master, and perhaps most of all should 
be left to the delicate taste and delightful fancy 
of women. Hence, as regards this point I shall 
only make some general remarks. 

It is essential that the confines of each garden, 
in which I always include the " pleasure-ground," 
for the sake of security should have an enclosure 
which separates it from the park. 

If the locality allows of a high terrace, or a 
continuous ha-ha, this would, in most cases, be 

' But there must be no superfluity, nor any trace of dirt or odors, 
and if tiiis cannot be so managed, then the menagerie should be re- 
moved; for curiosities which can be admired only with the handker- 
chief at the nose are undesirable in a place which should be devoted 
only to the comfortable enjoyment of beauty. 



44 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

the best enclosure for a "pleasure-garden," and 
regular lines that are not concealed, but quite 
visibly mark the difference, are here to be recom- 
mended ; for a garden is the occasion for very 
obvious art, and must therefore appear as such. 
While this barrier keeps out of the gardens the 
cattle or the deer grazing in the park, or visibly 
divides from them the meadows intended only 
for hay, the eye dwells with pleasure, first, upon 
the rich colors of the foreground, with its wealth 
of flowers and the emerald carpets of carefully 
kept lawns, and beyond, upon the open land- 
scape with its imposing trees or the waving 
grasses sown with wild flowers, where the mow- 
ers swing their glittering scythes in the sun or 
repose at noon in the fragrant hay. This contrast 
between free Nature and artistic cultivation, vis- 
ibly separated and yet melting into one harmo- 
nious picture, is doubly soothing to the feelings. 
It depends on the locality whether all the dif- 
ferent gardens (and the more there are the more 
pleasing effect of variety they produce) shall be 
enclosed in one large space, most fittingly near 
the dwelling-house, or whether they shall be 
scattered about the park. I have pursued a mid- 
dle course, extending the "pleasure-ground" all 
around the castle, and not, as is generally done in 
England, only on one side; the flower gardens ap- 
proach close to the windows, a conservatory open- 
ing from the salon forming a connecting link ; 
then at a little distance, as a plot by itself, but 
still within the circumference of the " pleasure- 




> 



w 



m 



Parks and Gardens 45 

ground," the orangerie, the winter garden, the 
conservatories, and the vegetable gardens ; but 
the orchards, the vineyard, and the nurseries I 
have distributed, at a distance from the castle, 
through the park; moreover, I have laid out sev- 
eral smaller gardens, in different styles, around 
the other principal buildings of the park, which 
I will describe more in detail farther on. 

Although all these gardens are decorated here 
and there by scattered flower beds, the great mass 
and variety of flowers are reserved for the flower 
gardens proper. I repeat here that the selection 
and distribution of the flowers must be left to the 
individual taste of the owner, though I will say 
in passing that flowers of the same kind in large 
masses generally make a far more impressive 
effect than a mixture of many different kinds in 
the same bed. Yet the nuances are so various, and 
there is so much to be considered in the design- 
ing, that only years of practice and experience 
will give the best. The light cast upon the flow- 
ers by the surrounding objects is a prime consid- 
eration. A rose in shadow and a rose in light 
yield quite different colors; much more the 
blue flowers. But especially striking is the effect 
brought about by the contrast of dark shade with 
bright sunlight on full white flowers mixed with 
others of brilliant color. Generally speaking, it 
is advisable to break strong-tinted flowers with 
white, in order to make the former stand out in 
stronger relief. 

A winter garden, as the name implies, must 



46 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

be confined to evergreen plants, and in our cold 
climate it is very difficult to grow any variety. 
Orangeries and hothouses belong to them ; also 
statues and fountains, which, even when the water 
freezes, do not lose their picturesque character. 
Reo-ular arrangements after ancient models, or 
French taste growing therefrom yield the best 
results, and if the effect of turf is desired, then 
evergreen creeping plants or the bright green 
dwarf bilberry and cranberry plants may be util- 
ized. I can only touch slightly on these points, 
partly on account of the numerous details which 
lie out of the scope of this work, and partly be- 
cause further remarks will be forthcoming in my 
description of the park at Muskau. 

I close this chapter, therefore, with the re- 
mark that kitchen and fruit gardens, although 
essentially for use, can be made pleasing to the 
eye by the happy arrangement of the beds of the 
first, and in the second by the training of fruit 
trees en espalier or by the trellising of them on 
walls (see Table I c) ; by convenient paths, and 
by the utmost cleanliness and order, so that one 
mav here enjoy the warm sunlight in the spring, 
or later in the year pluck the ripest fruit. In 
England, where everything is made to serve the 
utmost convenience, strawberries are planted in 
terraces near the paths, to be reached without 
troublesome stooping. And raised paths are made 
under the fruit trees, so that cherries and apples 
grow on the level of the stroller. Several lengths 
of wall are built in the middle of the kitchen 



Parks and Gardens 47 

garden, affording, not only a protected sunny side, 
but also a shady side, and all kinds of fruit trees 
are skillfully trained on them. English fruit, even 
in the open, gets too little sunlight, and the ripest 
are still, as in the time of the Due de Langeais, 
the cooked apples.' 

' The well-known saying was, " Qu'en Angleterre il n'y avait de 
poll que I'acier et ne fruits murs que les pommes cuites." ('* There is 
in England nothing polished but steel, and no ripe fruit but the baked 
apple.") 



Chapter VI 



Concerning the Laying-out of the Lawns of Parks 
Meadows y and Gardens 



WHAT the gold backgrounds of the old 
masters, which set out the sweet, lovable 
faces of madonnas and saints in so ideal a manner, 
are to religious pictures, green, luxuriant grass 
spaces are to a landscape. They are, as it were, the 
canvas of Nature-painting, the playground where 
the sun disports an element of brightness which 
sets out the whole landscape. Green grass en- 
hances the freshness of the entire landscape and 
furnishes a carpet for the sun to shine upon, 
whereas an arid, gray heath appears like a shroud 
even in the most beautiful spot. But while the 
grass plot should be green, it should not be 
marshy, being thereby rendered inaccessible, nor 
so soft and spongy that horses and wagons leave 
their tracks in passing over, thereby spoiling its 
appearance for months after. Although the latter 
cannot be wholly avoided in the first weeks after 
laying the plot out, especially in wet weather, 
yet if the grass is well kept it soon acquires a firm 
texture, even in light soil. 

For the making of lawns I can recommend 
the following rules, which the experience of sev- 
eral years in my neighborhood has confirmed: — 



The Laying-out of Lawns 49 

(i) Whether in a meadow or for a park or 
pleasure-ground it is of no avail to sow only one 
kind of grass seed. With only one kind of grass, 
perennial or not, it is not possible to secure a 
close grass texture. 

(2) For the first two — namely, meadows and 
park — I consider the richest mixture to be the 
best, but with this proviso, that the particular 
kind of grass which experience has found to be 
the most suitable to the special soil should dom- 
inate, to the extent of a third to a half of the 
mixture. In wet ground the greater part should 
be timothy [Phleum pratense)\ for heavy soil, rye 
grass (Lolium perenne) ; for loam, yellow clover 
[Medicago lupulina) and French rye grass [Ar- 
rhenatherum elatius) ; for light soil, honey or vel- 
vet grass [Holcus lanatus) ; for high ground, white 
clover {T'rifolium repens)^ etc. 

(3) If the plot that is to be sown is dry, it is 
advisable to trench it twelve to eighteen inches 
first, whatever the soil may be, but the top soil 
must be spread over the surface again if the soil 
below is inferior, and a sandy soil must of course 
be improved by muck, compost, or field soil. If 
the expense of digging trenches is too great, then 
one must plough to at least the usual depth, and 
in most cases still deeper with a subsoil plough. 
The field so prepared should be sown (here from 
the middle of August to the middle of Septem- 
ber) in rather moist weather and very thickly, 
and the seed at once well rolled in. On heavy 
soil it is best to wait for a dry day. By the end 



5© Hints on Landscape Gardening 

of October the most beautiful green will cover 
the new meadows. The next year they should 
be mowed quite early, in order to obtain an even 
growth, but the seed should be allowed to ripen 
and fall to the ground, thus securing a greater 
density of turf for the following year. Nothing 
more is now necessary than to roll it well every 
year after each mowing, and every three or four 
years, as may be required, to fertilize it plenti- 
fully with a compost field soil, muck, or with 
manure. In this manner, on light dry soil and 
to the surprise of many landowners, I have pro- 
duced the most luxurious meadow, which, in- 
stead of giving out in ten years as was prophe- 
sied, steadily improved, and from a pecuniary 
point of view has proved quite a good invest- 
ment, as in four years the capital spent on it has 
been repaid. 

(4) Marshy ground should first be dried, for 
which the English method of underground drains 
is the best. This consists of large hollow tiles 
laid on flat tiles (bricks), making durable little 
canals, which are not constantly choked by debris, 
as is the case with drains made by filling ditches 
with brushwood and stones. If one has plenty 
of rapidly flowing water, one may often devise 
charming open waterways, which drain off^ the 
water even better than the tiles, and make a most 
attractive feature in the landscape. If cleverly 
constructed in a natural way, they will improve 
instead of disfiguring the prospect. I recom- 
mend, for such little streams, the construction 



The Laying-out of Lawns 51 

of open, clean-cut main channels, with sharp 
rather than round bends, and then, banks made 
as sloping as possible, in order not to break the 
grass level too abruptly and lose too much meadow 
land. To give the required variety in detail to 
the bed of the stream, the earth may be taken 
away here and there, sometimes from the upper, 
sometimes from the lower bank, and still further 
to vary the effect, bushes, stones, or water plants 
may be set on or near the edge of the water. It 
is obvious that, wherever possible, watering or 
flooding a lawn or grass field must be carefully 
provided for, and that there should be one gen- 
eral flooding for a few days in the spring, and 
even after every mowing. Wherever this can be 
done, it is preferable to the daily watering dur- 
ing the hot weather, from which I have never 
derived much benefit. 

(5) If one desires to lay out lawns for " pleas- 
ure-grounds " and gardens, grass seeds should be 
mixed according to the ground, but all coarse 
grasses, such as honey or velvet grass {Holcus lana- 
tus)^ French rye grass [Arrhenatherum elatius)^ 
thread grass, etc., should be avoided. Festuca 
ovina (sheep's fescue), white clover {Trifolium 
repens), and English rye grass {Loliuin perenne)^ are 
generally used in England, and when the finer 
kind of lawn is desired, instead of rye grass, sev- 
eral kinds of Agrostis or red-top and other very 
fine grasses. In our soil and climate the most 
beautiful and firm turf can be best assured in a 
short time by sodding with selected fine park 



52 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

grass which one can find everywhere on the bor- 
ders of fields and edges of woods. It should be 
cut off in long strips, rolled up, then laid on the 
properly prepared ground in the same way it lay 
before it was cut, firmly bedded with wooden 
pounders, all gaps stopped, a little good garden 
earth strewn over, and a little of the above grass 
mixture sown on top ; the whole being finally 
rolled and watered. This is sure to give the de- 
sired result, and if later on any portion of the 
lawn should show patches of poor turf, I have 
often found, in order to make the growth strong 
and healthy, that it was quite sufficient to dig 
up such parts and sow fresh seed. 

The proper treatment later on is, however, 
the most important thing, without which no 
short grass can long remain in good condition. 
First of all it must be mowed every eight days 
in wet, every fourteen days in dry, weather, and 
it should be rolled at least as often. It is best to 
let the rolling precede the mowing, first, in or- 
der to press down little stones and other obstruc- 
tions, in which the scythe is apt to catch and 
stick, and second, so as to obliterate the stripes 
which the roller leaves on the lawn and which 
are conspicuous for several days. The usual rye 
scythes will serve with grass as well ; but the 
operation requires considerable practice and a 
very even stroke. Also, to avoid leaving out bits of 
long grass, one must mow every piece twice, down 
and up, in dry weather. The morning hours, 
before the dew is gone, are the best for mowing. 



The Laying-out of Lawns 53 

If these instructions are followed out exactly, 
it will seldom be necessary to have to weed out 
isolated encroachments of flowers or weeds ; they 
either die out of themselves, or have no time to 
affect injuriously the evenness of the turf. It is 
also a mistake to try to weed out all moss in a 
lawn of this kind. Many kinds, under the treat- 
ment I have described, in the shade of the trees, 
where no grass will grow, make a carpet which 
is like satin in softness and excels even grass in 
freshness. I remember to have seen in the Isle 
of Wight a long stretch of moss of this kind, 
which, in elasticity, soft green, and closeness of 
texture, excelled any lawn I have seen in Eng- 
land, and also I have succeeded in making charm- 
ing places of this kind under high trees. 

As soon as the grass is cut, the lawn should 
be raked oflF and then swept carefully its entire 
length with sharp brooms, until it is as clean as 
a floor. It is then more pleasant for walking 
than the best gravel path and does not at all 
require the anxious warnings and notice boards 
which in our gardens often border on the ridicu- 
lous. One may play ball on it all day without 
fear of doing it any damage. It is true that, 
during a severe drought, I have been compelled 
to water my lawns with a large Aire engine con- 
nected with a pump which was stationed for 
this purpose near the castle, with sufficient power 
to use a leather hose having a length of more 
than three hundred feet. I cannot, however, as- 
sert that much good was accomplished thereby, 



54 



Hints on Landscape Gardening 



and I have abandoned it on account of the great 
expense. In time of extreme drought any lawn 
will, in spite of all irrigation, be inferior to one 
which has had plenty of rain, but even if, in the 
hottest months, the lawn should be apparently 
all burned up, yet it will be renewed in the au- 
tumn. In any case, during periods of great heat 
and severe drought it is advisable neither to roll 
nor to mow. Except under these circumstances, 
the time of mowing and rolling should begin 
when the grass has grown an inch or two and 
only cease on the approach of the season of frost 
and snow. This continuous procedure is, of 
course, expensive, and in many places in Eng- 
land it is customary to keep well mowed only 
the lawn in front of the house and on the bor- 
ders of the "pleasure-ground," especially when 
the master is absent. The closeness of the grass, 
however, as well as its cleanliness, suffers, as I 
have often experienced, if it is not continually 
mown. In very large gardens it is as well to 
keep several men for the single purpose of mow- 
ing,' and to let them mow continuously in the 
morning hours, so that when the last piece is 
finished, the work can be at once taken up at 
the beginning. In this way it is possible to have 
the lawn appear for the largest part tidy all the 
time, as to mow and roll and sweep such exten- 
sive spaces all at once in one or two mornings 

' In general it is advisable to keep the same workmen on the one 
task. They do their work better and more quickly, and give more 
satisfaction. 



The Laying-out of Lawns ^^ 

would require, especially with the sluggishness 
and slow way of working of our country folk, 
an extraordinary number of men, and the un- 
skilled labor necessarily employed would, more- 
over, give poor and unequal results. 

I have dwelt on these details, because in Ger- 
many few things are so neglected ; indeed, in 
many cases they seem to be quite ignored. On 
my place I have proved that with similar treat- 
ment we can obtain as good lawns in spring, 
summer, and autumn as in England; on account 
of our harder climate it is not possible in win- 
ter, at the beginning of which English lawns 
are at their best. It is less possible, perhaps, for 
us to vie with the richness of the open meadows 
in England, especially with their wealth of 
flowers, of which I remember examples, where 
at a little distance bright reds, blues, and yellows 
entirely mantled the green. 

The field set apart for meadow is sown for a 
year or two with root crops, then it is laid out 
in little sections for the men engaged in manur- 
ing and working it, irregularities are leveled 
down, and each section worked across. When 
the whole field has been thoroughly worked in 
this manner according to its quality, — since it 
is seldom that even a field of ten acres is of the 
same quality, — I spread on the lighter soil clay 
and marl, on the heavier soil, sand and light 
loam, also a compost made of turfy earth and 
oak tan bark, leveling the whole once more with 
the spade so that the smallest inequalities are 



56 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

worked into the trenches and hollows. The 
whole field is then prepared so that the roller 
can reach every bit of its surface.' 

The best time for sowing with grass I have 
found to be in August; also in September when 
the weather permits, though August is prefer- 
able. The advantages of sowing in the summer 
are: (i) In the autumn one does not expect to 
have such severe droughts as in the spring ; there- 
fore, the grass becomes thick and very strong be- 
fore winter. (2) On meadows the grass seed sown 
in the autumn grows more vigorously and safely. 
( 3 ) One can level the ground and improve it with 
compost in the summer when the work of the 
spring and other pressing requirements have been 
attended to, according to the number of men and 
draught cattle available. Here, where wages are 
not exactly excessive, I have the ground, when 
it has been prepared as above, turned up in July 
in small sections. As soon as rainy weather sets 
in and the clods are half dry, so that the earth 
does not clog, I go over it once with the harrow, 
and sow it in the order of the following mix- 
tures: English rye grass [Lolium perenne), or- 
chard grass [Dactyiis glo??ierata), meadow fescue 
[Festuca pratensts^, velvet grass {Holcus lanatus), 
French rye grass {Arrhenatheru?n elatius) and tim- 
othy grass in equal parts, and allow for a Magde- 
burg acre (.63 of an English acre) one half hun- 

' It may perhaps interest students to have a regular receipt for the 
sowing of lawns, which I have set down as suggested by my head gar- 
dener, giving the manner in which the most successful of my lawns 
have been procured. 



The Laying-out of Lawns ^y 

dredweight of clean seed. Generally, however, 
because of cost, the seed is not sufficiently cleaned, 
and in this case double and, on lighter ground, 
treble the above amount is required. Timothy 
grass, on account of its fine and heavy grain, 
does not mix well with the other seeds, and 
therefore to ten pounds of timothy (Phleufn pra- 
tense) I add one pound of white clover [Tri fo- 
lium repens), one pound red clover {Trifolium 
pratense^, one pound of yellow clover, and one 
pound of sweet or Bokhara clover [Melilotus 
qfflchiaUs^^ and later spread this mixture, which 
is of equally heavy grain, over the space which 
has already been sown with the lighter mixture. 
Then the field is harrowed and rolled lengthways 
and crossways. When the greater part of the 
seed is ripe the next summer, I have it beaten 
off with rakes or small stakes before mowing. In 
good weather the greater part of the fallen seeds 
sprout again, whereby I obtain a fairly thick 
grass turf in one year, which otherwise I could 
not expect from a sown meadow for several years, 
unless I were to sow three times as thickly, which 
would be very expensive, since the harvesting 
and threshing of grass seed is rather difficult and 
depends very much upon the weather. 



Chapter VII 

Trees and Shrubs and their Grouping, and 
Plantations in General 



THE first requirement of a landscape is the 
vigorous growth of all plants. The finest 
forms of mountains and lakes, the brilliancy of the 
sun and sky, combined with the naked rocks and 
bare lakes, cannot replace meadows and the luxu- 
riant growth of various forms of trees with their 
diversified, pleasing green and rich foliage. For- 
tunate the man to whom his forbears have be- 
queathed lofty woods of old oaks, beeches, and 
lindens, these proud giants of our Northern clime, 
standing still untouched by the woodman's mur- 
derous axe. He should never regard them without 
veneration and delight, he should cherish them 
as the apple of his eye, for neither money nor 
power, neither a Croesus nor an Alexander, can re- 
store an oak a thousand years old in its wonder- 
ful majesty after the poor laborer has felled it. 
Terrible and swift is the destructive power of 
man, but poor and weak is his power to rebuild. 
May an ancient tree be to you, kind reader, who 
love Nature, a holy thing. And yet, here also, 
the individual tree must be sacrificed, if need be, 
to the general group. 

It may happen that a tree which, taken alone. 



Trees and Shrubs 59 

is most beautiful, does really disturb the effect- 
iveness and harmony of the whole, and then it 
must be sacrificed. Such occasions, however, are 
very rare, and I, unfortunately, know from my 
own experience that a slight alteration of plans 
would often be sufficient to spare a precious vet- 
eran whose execution at first seemed unavoidable. 
At all events, before applying the executioner's 
axe, be sure to deliberate not once but many 
times. It may be that the importance which I 
give to this matter may appear exaggerated, yet 
a true lover of Nature will understand me, and 
appreciate the qualms of conscience that half a 
dozen trees murdered without reason continue to 
cause me. On the other hand, my only conso- 
lation is that by boldly cutting down other trees 
I have made such great improvements that the 
gain outbalances the loss. Besides, there is no 
denying that by the removal of a few big trees 
more can be accomplished in one day than in a 
hundred years by planting thousands ot speci- 
mens, and that the loss of a few of these is not 
to be regretted if their number is increased a 
hundredfold to the eye by making so many others 
visible which had previously been quite obscured. 
This is so certain, that, although I have not been 
blessed with a surplus of ancient trees in my park, 
yet I have succeeded in apparently multiplying 
tenfold the number of them left standing. These, 
by the removal of some eighty others, are visi- 
ble now from all points. One is often struck by 
the fact in such cases that "One cannot see the 



6o Hints on Landscape Gardening 

woods for the trees." The great art in laying out 
a park consists in making use of comparatively 
few objects in such a way that a great variety of 
different pictures result, in which the recurrent 
elements are not recognized or at least produce 
novel and surprising effects. The double illustra- 
tion on Plate II shows the result which was 
brought about by the removal of about twenty 
old limes which stood in front of the castle. 

It is far more important to select, for trees to 
be transplanted, the kind of soil which suits them, 
or to procure it artificially if it is not natur- 
ally available, and above all, never to transplant 
them to worse ground than they previously occu- 
pied. It is really amusing how ignorant most 
planters are in this matter, and how they place 
various species of trees quite haphazard, without 
suspecting, much less taking any trouble to dis- 
cover, how various are the mixtures of soil which 
each plant particularly requires. The most ordi- 
nary agriculturist is quite aware of this with re- 
gard to his fruit trees, and observes it daily; the 
ornamental tree planter, at the most, knows so- 
called "good soil," that is, heavy loam and sand. 
On this matter I must be content to draw the 
attention of the reader to its importance, as a ne- 
cessarily long disquisition would take me too far 
beyond my prescribed limits. Sterile soils can be 
made to produce, without great expense, luxuriant 
growth of all kinds of trees which can bear the 
climate provided one has a proper compost of 
mixed peat, sand, loam, and in addition manure 










u 



Trees and Shrubs 6i 

and straw and lime, if it can be obtained at a 
moderate price. 

In case there is underlying the whole region 
a coarse gravel or impenetrable clay, all attempts 
are hopeless. Any one who plants lindens in heavy 
loam, chestnuts in marl, beeches in peat, planes 
in quicksand, as I have often seen done, has him- 
self to blame when he raises cripples instead of 
trees. So much for transplanting single trees. With 
regard to the art of their grouping I will add the 
following : Frequently several trees may be planted 
close together in one and the same hole, some 
fork-like; sometimes five to six should be placed 
in almost straight lines, etc.; for groups symmet- 
rically rounded off become as monotonous in the 
end as do regular alleys. The accompanying illus- 
tration (Plate III, a and F) shows two ground- 
plans with the same number of trees, one badly 
and one well grouped: c shows artificially, and 
d naturally, planted groups. On slopes, because 
of the long shadows they throw, single trees show 
better than groups. On flat ground trees should 
less often stand out singly, but should be so dis- 
posed as to give the eye a certain continuity of 
view, not too much broken up, here by sweep- 
ing, there by nearer, sometimes round, sometimes 
extended, groups. 

A pleasing effect is frequently obtained by 
planting two entirely different species of trees in 
the same hole, such as birch and alder, willow 
and oak, of which I possess a very picturesque 
specimen in my "pleasure-ground," or by allow- 



62 Hints on Landscape Gardening 



ing one tree to grow askew leaning almost hori- 
zontally over the water. 

To bring about such little artifices one must 
observe Nature herself and await a convenient 
opportunity for the undertaking. Thus, I recom- 
mend the planting of all trees intended to stand 
alone on a somewhat rounded spot of ground, as 
the heaped-up earth gives them a more graceful 
outline, and old trees which have grown up from 
seed nearly always stand naturally on just such a 
swelling point forced up by the growing roots. 

In order to judge of their effect beforehand, 
it is a good idea, before planting groups, to stick 
in the ground felled trees and branches. I should 
advise this course until riper experience gives the 
proper instinct and until the trained powers of 
the imagination become able to paint the picture 
accurately in the mind. But one cannot expect 
that every arrangement will look equally well 
from all sides; that is impossible; so one should 
take only the chief points of view, test the whole 
from these points only, and by the disposition of 
the paths prevent the visitor from being led to 
the less favorable spots. 

With solid young plantations I generally take 
the following course: First of all, I have the 
entire plot of ground trenched to a depth of at 
least two feet, even if the soil consists only of the 
lightest drift sand. The chemical effect of trench- 
ing and the receptivity for moisture thus imparted 
to the earth often passes all expectations. By 
trenching four feet in bare granular sand on a 



Trees and Shrubs 63 

sterile hill, where one would expect only birches 
and pines to prosper, I have grown good oaks, 
maples, limes, and firs, and, as they have flour- 
ished for a period of twelve years, their future 
growth is reasonably safe.' 

Only on steep declivities, where trenching is 
impracticable, would I permit, even in the case 
of solid plantations, the forester's method of 
planting trees in small single trenches, a style 
only to be used in ornamental work were abso- 
lutely necessary. Wherever it is possible without 
excessive cost, I try to improve the original soil 
in some degree, but if this is not feasible, I select 
for planting thereon only such kinds of trees as 
may be expected to thrive. If time, however, 
allows, I manure the trenched territory first and 
plant it with potatoes for one year. I make a point 
of planting everywhere as closely as possible: 
first, because the trees thrive better thus; secondly, 
because I can utilize such a plantation as a nur- 
sery later on by the removal every year of a part 
of the young plants which have been too closely 
set. The quick-growing trees that have grown 
higher, such as poplars, alders, acacias, etc., should 
be distributed here and there, always with due 
regard to the soil, thereby giving from the be- 
ginning a more finished appearance to the whole 
mass, but these should be cut down for under- 
brush later on, the nobler species, the oaks, lin- 

' If there is a foot of earth on top and only sand below, the trench- 
ing should not be so deep, as it is a good idea to keep the roots as much 
as possible in the rich earth. 



64 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

dens, beeches, chestnuts, etc., being given the 
preference. I consider it inadvisable to plant too 
small and too young specimens, partly for their 
own welfare and partly to avoid waste of time. 
Therefore, I seldom take for the purpose trees 
less than five or six feet high, and I also use only 
shrubs that have acquired some bushiness. It is 
hardly necessary to remark that, in general, ex- 
tended nurseries are most important in all grounds, 
or at least should be found in the neighborhood/ 

It is to this simple method that I attribute the 
fact that my plantations, according to many visi- 
tors, as a rule have, after two or three years, the 
appearance of ten or fifteen years' growth, and 
at the same time have served for a considerable 
period. 

For two or three years only I have the new 
plantations in the park weeded and raked, and 
after that no more. This is to keep the surface 
roots undamaged and also to save expense. The 
plantations are then left alone, except that they 
are gradually thinned out, either by taking away 
trees entirely, or by cutting down others so that 
the fresh growth will form underwood. In course 
of time one can, with the greatest ease, give 
plantations so arranged every variety required, 
making them a thicket impenetrable to the eye, 
or a forest of a slender growth which will unfold 
itself in spreading foliage, allowing peeps into 

' I cannot refrain from mentioning here the magnificent nursery in 
Potsdam and congratulating its founder, Head Gardener Lenne, for all 
that he has accomplished in this branch of gardening with such tireless 
energy. 




Photograph by Thomas W. Sears 



A Vista in the Park of Muskau 



Trees and Shrubs 65 

the depths, or break into dappled light and shade 
over a small, open plot of meadow in beautiful, 
wavy lines, or out of all these combine a mingled 
effect of many kinds of scenery. 

In the park I avail myself, as a rule, of native 
or thoroughly acclimated trees and shrubs, and 
avoid all foreign ornamental plants, for idealized 
Nature must still be true to the character of the 
country and climate to which it belongs so as to 
appear of spontaneous growth and not betray the 
artifice which may have been used. We have 
many beautiful flowering shrubs growing wild 
in Germany which should be freely used, while 
a centifolia rose, a Chinese lilac, or a clump of 
such shrubs in a spot in the middle of a wild 
wood strike us unpleasantly as an affectation un- 
less they are found by themselves in an enclosed 
space, as, for instance, in a little garden near a 
cottage which sufficiently indicates the neighbor- 
hood and hand of man. Some foreign trees, such 
as white pines, acacias, larches, planes, locusts, 
purple beeches, may be regarded as native, 
though I prefer for our country lindens, oaks, 
maples, beeches, alders, elms, chestnuts, ash, 
birch, etc. 

Varieties of poplar which are very useful in 
the beginning on account of their rapid growth, 
I remove in the course of time, as their branches 
are too straggly and their grayish green too som- 
ber; yet modifications occur easily; silver poplars, 
for example, relieved against any dark wood, 
making a pleasant variation, and old Canadian 



66 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

poplars often overhang lower shrubs very prettily 
and also add to the height of different parts of 
the group. 

The Lombardy poplars had better be entirely 
removed from the park, but in the " pleasure- 
ground " they produce a not unpleasing effect 
when grouped in large masses. Singly their shape 
is too stiff and unpicturesque, and used in alleys 
they are a real horror. 

On the whole, I try to arrange the larger 
plantations so that in each section one kind of 
tree dominates, and, of course, that one of the 
kind for which the soil is most suitable, but I 
try to avoid having a whole division with only 
one kind of tree. This mode of planting is very 
popular in our German gardens, where the vari- 
ous kinds of trees, especially evergreens and de- 
ciduous trees, are as anxiously separated in groups 
in connected plantations as if contagion were to 
be feared from one species of tree to another. 
All this, perhaps, may be said to produce a gran- 
diose, though hardly a gay, effect, but in my 
opinion, on the contrary, it gives just the appear- 
ance of a harlequin's jacket. Nor is such a pro- 
ceeding in any way founded on Nature. Where 
Nature, left to herself on an area, relatively as a 
park, has sown a thousand kinds of trees and 
shrubs in one climatic temperature, it stands to 
reason that they must have been much mingled 
together. Here and there a group may be found 
making a little wood, as it were, of the same 
tree, quite naturally, but the systematic separa- 



Trees and Shrubs 67 

tjon of the different kinds of trees is the most 
unnatural arrangement imaginable. 

There is nothing more beautiful and more in 
accordance with untrammeled Nature than a 
luxurious mixed forest where the sun dances 
among the many hues of green, and nothing 
more monotonous and dismal than a district 
where one passes now a clump of firs, then a 
long stretch of larches, here a patch of birches, 
and in another place a collection of poplars or 
oaks, and a thousand paces on the same tedious 
rows beginning again. It is entirely different in 
the case of large forests of aged trees, where, in 
the end, as in the world of men, the dominating 
species oppress the weaker, and yet one may see 
in a fruitful soil, even in a wild state, the fir 
pairing with the oak, the birch with the alder, 
the beech with the lime, and the thornbushes 
with all kinds of deciduous trees. 

As regards the latter, I have always kept in 
mind the advice of Mr. Repton, the eminent 
garden expert, seldom to plant a tree without 
giving it a brier as a protector. Although this 
rule must not be taken literally, yet it is a most 
useful one both for protecting and for giving 
variety to the plantation. 

I need hardly recommend that all blossoming 
and berry-bearing plants, such as wild fruit trees, 
thorns, hips, peonies, mountain ash, barberries, 
alders, etc., must be brought forward to the bor- 
ders and made conspicuous, but one must be 
careful not to make the intention too obvious 



68 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

by overdoing this work. Nor should the highest 
trees be always placed in the center and rows of 
shrubs always along the edges, as most of our 
gardeners do. The outline of the plantation 
should, on the contrary, be interrupted by trees 
trimmed high, especially where the road leads 
close by them, and trees with low-hanging 
branches should be set farther back. Often, too, 
where there is room, one should strive after that 
graceful negligence, so difficult to emulate, in 
which Nature remains ever the mistress, by the 
plantation of single shrubs and trees scattered 
freely over the grass. So also the clumps in the 
" pleasure-ground," as I shall presently attempt 
to describe, should show the greatest variety, not 
only in the species, but also with regard to their 
form and situation. Here also it is, as I have 
said, not always necessary to place the largest 
trees in the middle and the lower-growing ones 
graded down to the border. The contrary has a 
far more natural appearance, and a tall tree ris- 
ing high out of the bushes along the edge and a 
broken line of greenery is more picturesque, even 
in small groups, than masses always rounded and 
sloping gradually on each side and which would 
be improved by being broken up. The drawing 
in Plate IV shows an inferior, and what I have 
indicated as the better, way, a and b for wood 
plantations near the paths, and c and d for shrub- 
beries in the grass plots. 

How far one may plant with the deliberate 
intention of attaining artistic light and shade and 



Trees and Shrubs 69 

color contrast, I will not venture to state. The 
matter presents great difficulties, and in my ex- 
perience these attempts, if I went too far into 
detail, have seldom succeeded very well, and, on 
the other hand, plantations mixed quite recklessly 
often unfolded the most unexpected charms; nay, 
they earned me many compliments for my art 
wherein I was as innocent as many a physician 
who has effected a great cure without knowing 
how he did it, I do not lay much stress on any 
instructions in this matter, as I have always taken 
an easy middle course. It must also be remem- 
bered that the foliage of trees will often assume 
an entirely and unexpected shade when trans- 
planted to a different soil, and this cannot always 
be regulated in a large plot. It may happen that 
a dark-colored maple intended for shading grows 
a very light foliage. It is quite obvious, however, 
that one should avoid too variegated a mixture 
of leaves, too frequent alternations of dark and 
light green foliage, but here also, where it would 
be hard to lay down good, sharp rules in detail, 
the taste of the owner must be the best guide. One 
of the greatest difficulties in all plantations is to 
give to the edges a natural and graceful outline.^ 
Many excellent examples of forest plantations 
are found in England, and I may be excused for 
referring to the park of Lord Darnley, in Cob- 

' The outlines are generally indicated by sticks set in the ground at 
short intervals. The effect may be still better judged by outlining the 
shape on the grass with cords and running a furrow along this outline. 
This furnishes an easy means of judging, and, if necessary, altering, the 
shape. 



70 



Hints on Landscape Gardening 



ham, which really leaves nothing to be desired 
in this respect and may be recommended to all 
strangers for study. But as far as pleasure-ground 
plantations go, the well-known architect, Mr. 
Nash, has only recently, in my estimation, pre- 
sented the right way, and in the Gardens of 
Buckingham Palace, the new palace of the King, 
and also in Virginia Water, has established one 
of the most magnificent examples. In passing, I 
may say that I consider Windsor Park, with the 
new grounds of Virginia Water, one of the most 
perfect examples in England. In its extension 
and variety it forms a complete and splendid 
landscape. Castle and park have become, by the 
munificence and splendor of the late King, the 
worthiest seat for the most powerful monarch 
on earth. 

It is a pity that, at the time of my visit, ac- 
cess to the finest part where George IV resided 
was so difficult to obtain ; however, the liberality 
of the present King will have surely changed all 
this. His late Majesty so shunned the eyes of 
strangers that in many places, where an indis- 
creet glance might possibly penetrate, a second 
and even a third story of boards was erected and 
nailed to the wooden fence which surrounds the 
park. Whoever did not have the personal ac- 
quaintance of His Majesty, or had not special 
connections, or who did not care to spin out a 
kind of intrigue, could not approach Virginia 
Water. For the garden-lover this was doubly to 
be deplored, because the King was not only, as 




u 



Trees and Shrubs 71 

his worshipers declared, the first "gentleman" 
in the land, but deserves to be called one of the 
most tasteful landscape artists in England. 

The English are greatly favored by their cli- 
mate, vi^hich permits all kinds of evergreens to 
live safely through the winter, such as rhododen- 
dron, cherry laurel, Portuguese laurel, all vari- 
eties of holly, arbutus, viburnum, buxus, and 
Daphne laureola, etc., which at all times furnish 
ready material for thick flowering and beauti- 
fully shaded shrubberies. 

The usual way for planting has hitherto been, 
and still is, even now, in famous places like Chis- 
wick and others, to arrange either oval or round 
clumps on the lawn and draw long, wavy lines 
(or have strips of grass of an even width) along 
the paths, which are always marked off by a 
clean-cut border, and back of this appears the 
black soil of quite elevated beds which are care- 
fully raked clean. The shrubs are also severely 
pruned so that they hardly touch one another. 
Flowers are set here and there in order to give 
more color to the plantation, but the result of it 
largely is that one sees so much black earth in- 
stead of green color that a disagreeable vacilla- 
tion between formality and natural irregularity 
is apparent. Mr. Nash has entirely abandoned 
this kind of arrangement. He masses the shrubs 
more closely together, allows the grass to disap- 
pear in wide sweeps under the plants, or lets it 
run along the edges of the shrubs without trim- 
ming them. At the same time he sets a number 



72 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

of isolated trees and shrubs on the lawn beside 
the plantation in order to interrupt the lines nat- 
urally from all sides. These shrubberies are then 
neither raked nor trimmed except where neces- 
sary for their growth ; hence, they soon develop 
into a thicket that gracefully bends over the lawn 
without showing anywhere a sharply defined out- 
line, just as bushes in the wild state grow and 
shape themselves on the edge of a meadow. No 
tender bedding flowers can be employed in this 
way, since they demand continuous attention, 
nor are they necessary, since the English climate 
produces, besides the beautiful rhododendrons 
and the many species of roses, a sufficient num- 
ber of hardy perennial plants to give variety to 
the plantation ; and the flowers are massed in 
the flower gardens where regularity is entirely 
in order. For further explanation see Plate IV, 
where the sketch e shows the border plantations 
in the old style, and/J Mr. Nash's method. 

In our climate and less productive soil, where 
even the commonest varieties of roses suffer from 
cold or are quite destroyed by the frost, a middle 
course must be found, since we can hardly pro- 
duce ornamental shrubberies without resorting to 
herbaceous plants and annuals. For a long time, 
therefore, I have managed in general my planta- 
tions in the same way that Mr. Nash has done, 
while leaving, here and there in the shrubberies, 
places prepared for hardy herbaceous plants, 
which, though ugly in the early spring, are 
bright with color in summer and autumn, our 












o 








-C 


j_ 




u 


n 





s g 



o o 

> 



Trees and Shrubs 73 

season for the country, whereas in England this 
season is more often in the winter. On the other 
hand, in the flower garden, where the health of 
herbaceous plants demands it and formality is 
quite out of place, I maintain the old style which 
I have described in the shrubberies, though 
within bounds, and with this difference, that I 
conceal the black earth as much as possible by 
flowering perennial plants. 

To the flower beds themselves I give a distinct, 
defined shape and surround them preferably by 
basket-work ; sometimes I make use of ironwork, 
or sometimes of wooden borders bound with 
cord, earthenware, tiles, leaf-shaped or other- 
wise ; also borders of merely plaited osiers with 
an overhanging arch on which I train flowering 
vines, etc. Flower beds, star- and rosette-shaped, 
surrounded by box borders, big vases, French 
parterres with gravel walks and elegant flower 
stands, — all these are here in place with appro- 
priate surroundings. 

From what I have said one sees that Mr. 
Nash is at bottom an innovator only in this, that 
he has applied to the "pleasure-ground" (that 
is, the larger garden which represents something 
midway between park and garden) the same 
principles that hold good in all wild wood and 
shrub plantations ; namely, that the true line of 
beauty of the exterior of a plantation must lie in 
imperceptible transitions, sharp angles, and deep 
recesses, here and there in almost straight lines, 
broken, however, by single projecting trees and 



74 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

shrubs which bind them loosely together. This 
does not mean to employ that ideal wavy line 
called more accurately, " corkscrew " form, which 
is the most unnatural of all and which impedes 
any effect of light and shade, the greatest secret 
of landscape painting. Besides, in spite of its 
twists, when seen in front it presents only a 
meaningless zigzag without any character. Sharp 
corners, on the other hand, seldom do harm, as 
they always become rounded in time by vegeta- 
tion. Finally, after the first two years, when the 
needful cultivation, weeding, etc., have been 
done, I sow grass on the borders of the planta- 
tions and wherever a bare place shows itself be- 
tween the shrubs, until every trace of abruptness 
in the dividing line disappears, and the most nat- 
ural and spontaneous connection between meadow 
and wood is created. 

Wherever the path leads through the planta- 
tion, either the plantation is brought quite close 
to the edge or a border of grass is made to lose 
itself naturally in the shrubbery. 

It is only in the flower garden that I permit a 
continuous border cut regularly to one width; 
this even is broken here and there by a border 
of box or violets, etc. Evergreens should not, as 
a rule, be placed close to the roads, since they 
may have to be trimmed high for the benefit of 
the passer-by, thereby losing their beauty, and, 
moreover, no grass will grow underneath them. 
But they are often very ornamental if set far 
enough back from the border of the walk or 



Trees and Shrubs 75 

drive to permit them to spread out their branches. 
These rules also admit of exceptions, and I take 
occasion here once for all to warn against pe- 
dantry. Nulla regula sine exceptione. But to allow 
one's self exceptions, one must all the more be 
familiar with the rule. Thus, it is not advisable 
in the long run to increase by the addition of 
young trees plantations which have grown old. 
They are apt neither to look well nor do well; 
yet at times it is necessary. In that case a por- 
tion of the older trees should be removed and 
some rather large specimens of the younger trees 
planted in wedge form in gradation, whereby the 
transition from the old to the new soon disap- 
pears. For the same reason some of the older 
and inferior trees on the border should often be 
cleared away and replaced by a younger growth 
until the disagreeable sharpness of the division is 
quite lost. 

I will add a few words here on the shrubberies 
made up of flowering shrubs and perennial plants 
and annuals : — 

( 1 ) It is better in general, but not always, to 
group one kind in connected masses instead of 
planting too many single and isolated specimens. 

(2) With such masses it is especially advisable 
to cover over conspicuous points of shrubbery 
with a lower growth, connecting it with higher 
shrubs in such a manner that these shrubs shall 
not stand detached and appear intentionally 
placed there. 

(3) Only those plants should be grouped to- 



76 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

gether which have in the beginning the same 
relative height that they attain in proportion to 
one another when full grown ; for instance, do 
not set a young white lilac one foot high with a 
grown Persian lilac four feet high, because the 
relative proportions of the two would before long 
be reversed. 

If all plants are mixed as they happen to grow, 
young and old together, they will, of course, 
finally come to their full stature, but for a con- 
siderable time they will make a confused, and 
therefore undesirable, effect. In explanation see 
the accompanying vignette, which shows a mix- 
ture of shrubs blooming in the spring and sum- 
mer. 

This model can, of course, be varied indefi- 
nitely, though a dozen different patterns might 
be sufficient, which, as a matter of convenience 
and approved effectiveness, might be repeated in 
part or entire throughout the " pleasure-ground." 
I wager that no one will notice that there are 
only twelve different patterns, but a garden de- 
signed in accordance with this principle will pro- 
duce a much greater variety of effects than one 
where the patterns are indiscriminately mixed, 
although the latter should contain a much greater 
variety of plants. Besides, one may, if one will, 
take twenty-four instead of twelve such patterns, 
but should always proceed methodically, for with- 
out this precaution, nothing succeeds in art. 

The pattern I have given is a very simple one 
with only the most ordinary kinds of plants that 










s/ttit 


4p. 


f 


Svrinrfa pcrficrt ,. ^..,. -.. 


V/a, 


-/^ 


i 


Campaitnla medium. .t.vb3*>'*.^-.»v.^^.ttt7t-.-.-v. 


ifunk^^las 


spat 


■^ 


4f- 


CVtiftw «lai^Btus ...„.-.->-^.,„„..r.^„«.==^^ 


^rr~. .. yai. 


JhU,. 


-/s 


.1 


Svrin^ -vulgM-is fLcovruIeo ...j.-,.™,,.^-.-^.- 


...- Mfam, 


Jhih 


yj> 








JnA 


2a 


7 

s 




,,_. nl/r 


S/ 


Spiraea Trrpericifolia .™i..i«..'.-n-r<T.. 


...-.-...//«■/;• 


n 


9 


Lonic^n. tartarica fl. ruliro, .vr»^.,OTo^!.ra=3- 


., TP^h 


filih 


-'J 


//• 


Kib4^ anreum .. . . „*..-*. -.-rrv^T^-rtTti^i^^ 


.,„„ y<-<K 


^m7f 


}« 


*■ 


Ltuuu-ia vederiva .-..............^.-.....Trr,^-. 


,-=^ 


Spat 


2f 


■^ 


Roiia centifbUa. •.-.".T^^^.-:-^.rv.iTO.«»-r-~= 


sESB. ^srh 


s/ktA 


S£ 


iX 


Sjmnffa cjtxnaitfu ... ~.-..-.-..-.*-^... -.-.%■ .-r^^^^-^.w. 


.^., hJaJml/i. 


fmh 


f/ 


Ji 


Svrin^a -v-ulrfarie .fl. alho ..,-... ^-..^ 


my/;. 


JhiJ, 





i\hus Cotinug ..^^^^ 

Potc&lilla iruticosa 

Syringa vulgaris fl. rubro . 

Spiraea falicifolia fL rubro .-.-.-,-,,-«-.-r-v^^^-.- 

fcTi^Jiudinc^ Rfsejj/ ..-,,i^ t^....^. 

Ripaver bracteata ....^^-— ^ „>=-^,^ 

Thiladelphus coronarius .-^^-j^ . - ■■ .. •■. . .-. -t-> 
Craetaerfiia oxia cairthA fl.pleno rubro.-™ 
Coliitea, arboreJjeiis *^^j,;c--33==Baw.-vr«irs^--*--'-" 
fapaver bractenta . — , , ■ , — , , , ■■ ^ - w^ t t ' 
/crfcki^d/'r:^ Jlrsen^ ^r^ji.,,.., » ■■ ^^^^^^ 



. Va/^vrtihi s/ta/ 

hcchrcUi, Jiifft 

du/JuSlraz/ spat- 

. fuy^uviA'. Jru/y 

_-.-.-^. rvsa: s/ra/. 

^gj^ ttmi reth, Jruft 

-v^. . . hunt spaf 



Plate XLIII. A Diagram showing Arrangement ot Shrubs and Herbaceous Plants 



Trees and Shrubs 77 

any one can obtain. Here is a proper field for 
the ladies, who may transfer their embroidery 
patterns in animated form into their gardens with 
free play to their innate fine sense of color. 



A FINAL WORD ON AVENUES 

I by no means condemn regularity for ave- 
nues, though they rarely look well planted in this 
way until the trees have attained to a ripe old 
age. But trees so planted are useful for various 
purposes, such as a border for highways, for 
avenues to large palaces, etc. Three points, how- 
ever, must be observed here: first, the avenues 
should be very wide, avoiding long stretches of 
straight lines ; second, a double row of trees 
should be set rather closely together on either 
side wherever possible, these two rows being sub- 
sequently again thinned out so as to permit the 
remaining trees to attain to their normal growth; 
third, only trees suitable for the purpose should 
be taken ; that is, trees that are shapely, perma- 
nent, and that throw a good shade. In our coun- 
try elms and oaks in sandy soil, lindens, chest- 
nuts, or maples in richer soil, and acacias in 
protected positions. Money laid out on the soil 
in the beginning to prepare it for the finer kinds 
of trees is well spent, since poplars and birches, 
which grow anywhere, are ugly in avenues and 
not so enduring as other trees. Following a sug- 
gestion which I brought home from Chelten- 
ham, I am trying on my estate a method which 



yS Hints on Landscape Gardening 

has so far not been applied to avenues, but from 
which I expect the best results, especially, in a 
sandy region like ours. I run a furrow, wide or 
narrow according to the locality, along both 
sides of the road, which, following the English 
way, slopes toward both sides with subterranean 
drainage where necessary and a few side gutters. 
This furrow is closely packed with young trees 
as in a grove, mixing in with them here and 
there groups of larger trees which form a kind 
of continuous, irregular avenue rising above the 
undergrowth. Where I do not own the adjacent 
ground, I continue these high groups without 
the undergrowth in a narrow strip along the 
road. (See Plate IV, ^.) The trees are generally 
treated as undergrowth or underbrush and are 
pruned every six or ten years, while the larger 
trees are left to grow undisturbed. In this way 
even barren regions will soon appear attractive 
when seen from the road ; and a variety of effects 
may be produced subsequently by various differ- 
ent modes of treatment, allowing larger masses 
to grow high, carefully trimming some of the 
older trees, keeping others down, etc., or, finally, 
the landscape, where it is unattractive, may be 
hidden by a wall of greenery. Should some of the 
larger trees that have been set out die off in the 
course of time, or not thrive well, the neighbor- 
ing trees may be allowed to grow up, and in this 
case any kind of tree that thrives well may be 
used. This mode of treatment will do away with 
unsightly bare spaces and make a natural avenue 



Trees and Shrubs 79 

which will lighten in appearance the most bar- 
ren of heath and pine woods, forming an easy 
transition between them, while the long rows of 
soldier-like Lombardy poplars which one sees far 
off through the black pines brings genuine de- 
spair to any one who has the remotest idea of the 
picturesque. For myself, at least, when my ill 
star leads me along such avenues I try to escape 
this desolate feeling by closing my eyes and forc- 
ing myself to sleep. 



Chapter VIII 

Roads and Paths 



ROADS and paths should be, above all, firm, 
and as dry as possible. Were I writing this 
book for English readers I could pass over this 
point entirely, since the construction of the roads 
there is fairly adequate, but, as we are still very 
much behind in this respect, a few words on the 
technical aspect of this question will not, I think 
be superfluous at the end of this chapter. Good 
roads and paths are, of course, expensive, and 
this, as I was frequently told, is the chief reason 
why there are so few roads and paths in English 
parks and a drive entirely round the estate so 
seldom to be found, and often, where a path 
leads from the "pleasure-ground" into the park, 
it stops suddenly at the iron fence which encloses 
the former and from that point one has to wade 
painfully through wet grass and other disagree- 
able features. We could, considering the differ- 
ent value of money in the two countries, get 
much more from the outlay if we should follow 
diflferent methods. For what is the good of a 
park that presents the same recurring picture 
from a few points of view, a park where I am 
never led, as by an invisible hand, to the most 
beautiful spots, seeing and comprehending the 



Roads and Paths 8i 

picture in its entirety and at my ease? This is 
the purpose of roads and paths, and while they 
should not be unnecessarily multiplied, too many 
are better than too few. Roads and paths are the 
dumb conductors of the visitor and should serve 
in themselves to guide him easily toward every 
spot which can afford enjoyment. Roads and 
paths, therefore, should not be too conspicuous, 
but should be carefully laid out and concealed by 
plantations: I mean too conspicuous in the Eng- 
lish sense, where a property of one thousand acres 
has only one or two main roads or paths ; yet the 
opposite system of our imitation English gardens, 
where often two or three adjacent paths all show 
the same points of view and lead to the same 
spot, is also very objectionable. 

It follows from what I have said elsewhere 
that the roads and paths should not run in con- 
tinual curves like a serpent wound round a stick, 
but should rather make such bends as serve a de- 
finite purpose easily and effectively, following as 
far as possible the natural contours of the ground. 
Certain aesthetic rules dictate these bends in 
themselves, and hence in places obstacles must 
be set up where they do not naturally occur in 
order to make the graceful line appear natural. 
For instance, two curves close together in the same 
road or path seen at the same time do not look 
well. If this cannot be entirely avoided, then a 
sharp turn should be relieved by a larger, more 
rounded turn, and the former should seem justi- 
fied by trees or plantations on the inner side, or 



82 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

by elevations where the road or path is appar- 
ently more easily led around than over them. 
(See Plate V, a, b, c, and d.^ 

If there is no obstacle the road should be al- 
lowed to run straight or only slightly curved, no 
matter what the distance. Wherever an obstacle 
appears, it is better to make a short turn close to 
it than a long, gradual turn for the sake of the 
so-called curve of beauty. The sharp turns are 
by far the more picturesque, especially if the 
road disappears with such a turn in the depths of 
a forest. Nor should a road running parallel with 
another be visible from it unless there is a dis- 
tinct division of hill and valley between, or a dip 
in the ground, for without this natural division 
two adjacent paths leading in the same direction 
appear superfluous, especially when they are on 
the same level, for the mind must recognize the 
fitness of the details before the eye will be satis- 
fied by the entire picture. 

In a landscape of wide sweep, especially, the 
form given to the grass plots by the enclosing 
roads must be carefully considered. One may 
entirely spoil an extensive territory by a short 
piece of road badly arranged. I call to mind one 
example which first attracted my attention to this 
point. There is a hill in my park which extends 
out conspicuously into a wide stretch of meadow, 
thereby apparently dividing it into two equal 
parts. The river flows along this entire stretch of 
country and a road follows its course. (See ground- 
plan, Plate V, f.) Observe particularly the line of 




o 
a! 



< 



> 



N 



Roads and Paths 83 

the ridge indicated by the shading in the plan, 
being the most conspicuous object in the neigh- 
borhood, as well as the two markedly divided 
portions of the meadows which are overlooked 
by a certain building on the height. Another 
road leads to this building along the upper side, 
and for the sake of convenience I required a foot- 
path connecting the two roads which had to be 
at the left side leading to the castle. I first laid 
it down as in Plate V, e, where the ascent is eas- 
iest, this being the line it would follow in ac- 
cordance with ordinary rules; yet I was never 
satisfied with it, and although I changed the line 
ten times, the path persisted in spoiling the har- 
mony of the view. It finally occurred to me that, 
since the hill once for all conspicuously divided 
the prospect into two almost symmetrical por- 
tions, the path interrupting the stretch of 
meadow would have to follow the same direction 
so as not to destroy the harmony, or, so to speak, 
the balance, of the picture; for there is a certain 
kind of undefined, hidden symmetry in which 
there is no contradiction whatever, but which, 
in order to produce a satisfactory effect, must be 
evident in every expanded arrangement of this 
kind. As soon as I changed the line of the path 
in agreement with this principle (see x), the 
matter was arranged satisfactorily. It may take 
a practiced eye to understand this point on the 
plan, but the advantages gained by the change 
may be perceived by any one on the ground. 
Drives should be laid out so that chief points 



84 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

of interest and the most noteworthy objects in 
the entire park may be visited one after another 
without passing the same object twice — at least 
not in the same direction — on the round trip. 
This problem is frequently a peculiar one to solve. 
I may say I have given a good example in my 
park and it has cost me almost as much labor as 
the building of labyrinths may have cost our an- 
cestors. The footpaths also must run into one 
another with this end in view, affording many 
separate paths, apparently undesigned, which 
should be connected so as to leave a wide lati- 
tude of choice. Where one or several of the 
main roads or paths through the park are in- 
tended to serve as an approach (as it is called in 
English) to the castle or dwelling-house, it should 
be concealed for a time to make the road appear 
long and more extended ; but once the destina- 
tion has come into view, it is not well to allow 
the road to turn off any more unless there be a 
mountain or lake or other palpable obstacle for 
which the road must deviate. 

The customary drive around the whole park 
should in every respect be the opposite of the 
encircling belt as designed by Brown (which I 
have already censured), which runs continually 
on and on by a monotonous plantation around the 
wall. This driveway should, on the contrary, be 
laid out so that the vicinity of the boundary is 
nowhere suspected ; therefore, relatively large 
plots of grass, visible if possible at one glance, 
should be massed between the boundary line and 



Roads and Paths 85 

the park road, and while the latter should lead 
to the finest spots in the domain, it should also 
quite as often open out views (over the hidden 
fence) outside of the park as well as inside. This 
can be managed, as was described in Chapter III 
("Enclosure"), by a ha-ha or some other de- 
vice. Care must be taken also, by the appropri- 
ate placing and disposition of the plantations, to 
make the roads, as one goes in and out, present 
different views. This obviously doubles their in- 
terest and can be achieved by the disposition of 
the bordering plantations, which, so to speak, 
should compel the visitor to see one part of the 
landscape on arrival and another on departure. 
At any specially fine point it is well to lead the 
road for some time in full view of it, to allow 
one to enjoy it more completely and not to let 
it be visible merely to a hasty glance whereby 
its beauties can be easily overlooked. 

I hold it to be unnecessary to make the roads 
in a park as broad as in a highway, only five or 
six feet wide for footpaths and ten to fourteen 
feet for drives. For public gardens another scale 
of widths may be advisable. 

The construction of drives and footpaths in a 
park is very much the same, the whole difference 
lying in the thickness of the stone foundation. I 
have myself taken the following course with the 
best and most durable results : — 

The bed for both path and drive must first be 
dug out two, one, or only half a foot deep re- 
spectively, and where there are watercourses, or 



86 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

water is liable to gather, a drain with sufficient 
inclination must be built underneath, also lateral 
drains leading into it from both sides of the road 
protected from above by an iron grating, through 
which the water may run down freely. Where 
there are steep banks along the drive or path, 
stone gutters may be built alongside of them be- 
tween the drains so as to prevent the earth from 
being swept away, or if the stone gutters are too 
expensive the same purpose may be attained by 
using a mixture of tar and rosin. In the park I 
sometimes have opened ditches, constructed to 
save expense on one or both sides of the road, 
and slanting ridges in the park itself, which 
serve the same purpose, but do not look so well. 
Where there is little water to be considered, one 
need not wall up the subterranean drains, but 
simply fill them up with large field stones or lay 
them with the hollow tiles I have spoken of in 
Chapter VI, in the section on the drainage of 
meadows. For the drives, stones broken as small 
as possible (in my park granite stones) are laid 
six inches thick and stamped with broad wooden 
stampers in order to make them assume a slightly 
arched form, and on this spread fine coal ashes, 
mixed with broken brick, two inches deep ; 
this is again pounded together with old plaster 
and building refuse ; then an inch of coarse river 
gravel. Finally, the whole is heavily rolled with 
iron or stone rollers. The last part of the work, 
the covering with the gravel and the rolling, is 
generally repeated every year, or, at least, every 



Roads and Paths 87 



two years. Such a road is sufficiently strong to 
bear any travel imposed upon a parkway and has 
an advantage over the macadamized roads built 
in England in that it is smooth and even as soon 
as it is finished and is pleasant for driving, while 
the macadamized roads, which consist entirely 
of broken granite, are comfortable only after con- 
siderable travel has smoothed them down, being 
at first very hard on horses and foot travelers, and 
even later broken edges of the stone will always 
protrude here and there. 

Footpaths I build on the same principle, ex- 
cept that I often take only coal ashes or broken 
clinkers, mixed with plaster or building refuse, 
instead of the broken stone, and cover all with 
fine gravel. (See Plate V,y; the transverse section 
of the road, and g, the surface.) In localities 
where the brownish, so-called " Windsor gravel " 
is found, — in England only in a few districts 
of the kingdom, — it forms a compact mass, and 
is not disturbed by moisture as easily as loam. 
In order to make a good path, it is only neces- 
sary to dump a six-inch layer of this Windsor 
gravel over the drain; it is as smooth as a par- 
quet floor, never requires weeding, and needs 
only to be picked up and rolled every spring. If 
one does not possess this excellent gravel, the 
yellowish-brown color of which stands out so 
well against the green of the lawn, the drives 
must be weeded as often as twice or thrice a year, 
which, however, is necessary only on the borders, 
and which, as well as the clipping of the grass 



88 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

edges, can be done by women, and consequently 
need not be very expensive. It is possible that 
the building refuse which I recommend as bind- 
ing material encourages vegetation, especially 
when the roads are little used. The advantage, 
however, so much outweighs the disadvantage 
that, lacking the clay gravel, I know no better 
way for constructing a road. I have formerly at- 
tempted, by a mixture of dried clay and coarse 
river gravel, to manufacture the Windsor gravel 
artificially, but the result is seldom satisfactory, 
as the mixture easily goes wrong, and then does 
not bind sufficiently. Later on I was lucky in 
finding a gravel similar in color and other prop- 
erties to the Windsor gravel. For economy one 
can also make use of what we call here " Gov- 
ernment roadways," — that is, clay with ordinary 
gravel spread over it, — but with continuous wet 
weather and in winter these roads are always bad. 

The gravel paths must in summer be swept 
with brooms, and in wet weather must some- 
times be rolled, and will then be always in good 
condition, except, perhaps, on thawing after a 
cold winter; but even after a very heavy shower 
they are quite dry again. Only, I repeat, it is an 
essential condition that sufficient outlet be fur- 
nished for proper drainage of water. 

Grass drives and paths also, which can be made 
by laying grass sods, must have on top of the 
stone foundation half a foot of earth under the 
grass and be protected with covered or open 
drains to last well for riding ; they are then more 
agreeable than paved roads. 



Roads and Paths 89 



Finally, I may remark that for the subsoil of 
a road sand is the best ; even swampy ground is 
better than heavy, impenetrable clay, which will 
not allow water readily to pass through. 

If, later on, depressions and bad spots show 
themselves, these need only to be picked up, 
freshly spread with coal ashes, builder's waste, 
and gravel, and be well pounded. In very bad 
weather, especially in spring, the earth that has 
been loosened by vehicles should be scraped off, 
and as soon as dry weather sets in the yearly 
quota of gravel should be spread over, the river 
running through my park conveniently furnish- 
ing the necessary material. 

The chief rules for roads are thus limited to 
the following : — 

( 1 ) Lay them out so that they lead insensibly 
to the finest views. 

(2) They should form an attractive and prac- 
tical line. 

{3) They should divide the spaces through 
which they run into picturesque sections if those 
spaces are visible in their whole extent. 

(4) They should never make a turn without 
the requisite obstacle that necessitates it. 

(5) Finally, they should be well constructed 
and should always be hard, smooth, and dry. 

I am convinced that whoever accurately fol- 
lows these rules will not be dissatisfied with the 
result, and if the locality is at all favorable, the 
expense will be found to be considerably less 
than, perhaps, is expected. 



Chapter IX 



Water 



THOUGH not so indispensable to landscape 
as a rich vegetation, fresh and clear water, 
whether stream or lake, greatly increases its charm. 
Eye and ear are equally delighted, for who does 
not hearken with delight to the sweet murmur of 
the brook, the distant plashing of the mill wheels, 
the prattling of the pearly spring ? Who has not 
been enchanted in quiet hours by the perfect 
calm of the slumbering lake in which the giants 
of the forest are dreamily mirrored, or by the 
aspect of foaming waves, chased by the storm, 
where the sea-gulls merrily rock? But it is very 
difficult for the artist to conquer Nature here, 
or to impose on her what she herself has not 
created on the spot. 

Therefore, I would advise to leave undone 
altogether a faulty imitation. A region without 
water can still present many beauties, but a bad- 
odored swamp infects every one ; the first is only 
a negative fault ; the second a positive, and, with 
the exception of the owner himself, nobody will 
take a cesspool of this kind for a lake, or a stag- 
nant ditch overgrown with duckweed for a stream. 
But if one can by any means guide a running 
stream into one's own property, if the terrain 



Water 91 

gives any prospect of it, one should do one's ut- 
most, and forego neither expense nor pains to ac- 
quire such a great advantage ; for nothing offers 
such an endless variety to the beholder as does 
the element of water. 

But in order to give water, artificially ob- 
tained, whatever form it may take, a natural, 
unforced appearance, much trouble is necessary. 
In the whole art of landscape gardening, per- 
haps nothing is more difficult to accomplish. 
Englishmen are very backward in this matter ; 
even the ornamental waters of Repton, their best 
landscape artist, which I have seen, failed in many 
respects. Mr. Nash alone has given us a few fine 
samples — Regent's Park in London among 
others.' 

His work in St. James's Park is less successful, 
though the task here was perhaps an impossible 
one on account of the small territory. His mode 
of procedure, as he explained it to me, was as 
simple as it was ingenious. He had the entire 
surface of the ground surveyed, noting all the 
dips and elevations, to learn where an inunda- 
tion might find its natural bed. From this he 
constructed in a natural manner the form of his 
artificial waters, only digging out the ground 
where necessary. He thus obtained the double 
advantage of a more natural outline and less ex- 
pensive work. In most parks of the well-to-do 

' It is possible that equally good examples are to be found in the 
celebrated work of Loudon and of Mr. Kennedy. I do not know these, 
however. 



92 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

English, the waters are still the parties honteuses^ 
or eye-sores of the whole, often slimy, very sel- 
dom quite concealing their artificial origin. 

Several of the rules which I have given for 
laying out roads and for the outlines of planta- 
tions can be readily applied to the shape of the 
water effects. As in the former case one can, ac- 
cording to the requirements of the terrain and 
the obstacles that occur, bring in sometimes long 
and sometimes short, abrupt bends, making pref- 
erably rounded corners rather than semicircles, 
sometimes even quite sharp turns where the 
water is visibly diverted. Both banks of a stream 
or brook should follow fairly parallel lines, yet 
with various nuances, which must be decided, not 
according to one's fancy, but by the laws deter- 
mined by its course. Two rules hold good al- 
most universally : — 

(i) The side toward which the stream turns 
should have a lower bank than the opposite, be- 
cause the higher one diverts it. 

(2) Where the current of the water suddenly 
becomes swift and yet needs to be turned aside 
lest it break bounds if left free, a sharp bend 
should be constructed rather than a round one 
and a steeper shore should signify the conflict. 
But never follow what our gardeners call "noble 
lines." ^ I suppose the terrain to be the same in 

' In Berlin I once saw in a water feature such imaginary lines of 
beauty actually following a barrier painted green and on an open lawn, 
without any obstacle which would excuse it, running on in regular 
curves close by a straight road. This must have doubled the cost with- 
out arriving at any result but that of making the owner ridiculous. 








-s^* 




r #' 




Plate VI. Diagrams showing Arrangements of Rivers, Lakes, and Islands 



Water 93 

both cases. The old practice would give the line 
of the stream as illustrated in Plate VI, a; the 
student of Nature will try to make it something 
like b. 

Frequently, larger and smaller promontories, 
as well as deep bays tend to give the scene a 
natural appearance, and it is equally effective to 
vary the height and form of the crown or upper 
part of the bank. One must be careful to avoid 
high finish in constructing the slope of the bank 
in such a way as to betray the artificial work. 

An exception to this may be made in the 
case of the " pleasure-ground " ; but here also it 
would be well to strike a middle course between 
Nature and cultivation. (See Plate VI, c, for the 
stiff, and d, for the more natural, bare bank; 
e, for the advantages of variety in the banks on 
both sides.) The plantation supplies what is still 
lacking and completes the whole by the free play 
of the overhanging branches. It would hardly 
be possible to give an entirely natural appearance 
to an artificial bank without a plantation. 

If one would like a larger, more lakelike ex- 
panse of water, which is especially desirable in 
the view from the mansion, one should so treat 
it — partly by means of islands, partly by very 
deep bays, the limits of which are mostly con- 
cealed in shrubbery — that from no one point 
the whole mass of water can be overlooked, but 
that everywhere, behind the thick shrubbery, the 
water appears to flow onward ; otherwise, every 
piece of water will appear small, even though it 



94 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

should take an hour to walk round it. Open, 
grassy banks, single high trees, woods, and thick- 
ets should vary the effect with broad spots where 
the sunlight can have full entry, in order not to 
deprive the water of its transparency and bril- 
liancy by concealment. A lake whose shores are 
entirely in shadow loses much of its effective- 
ness, as the water reveals all its magic only under 
the full rays of the sun, where the reflections 
from above appear to come from the bottom in 
transparent, silvery clearness. I have frequently 
seen this very necessary rule quite ignored by 
unskillful gardeners. The projecting tongues of 
land must, for the greater part, run into pointed, 
not rounded ends, for I cannot sufficiently dwell 
on the fact that no line in picturesque landscape 
is more unpropitious than that taken from the 
circle, especially in any great extent of space. A 
tongue of land which ends quite in a point, and 
is at its termination almost in the same line as 
the water, and beyond which the water appears 
on the other side, makes quite a charming variety, 
especially when a few high-branched trees stand 
on it, and where one looks through under the 
foliage. If any important object stands near, — 
a building, hill, or conspicuous tree, — plenty 
of room should be given for its reflection in the 
water, and attention should be drawn to the pic- 
ture shimmering in its depths by a path or bench 
placed there for the purpose. 

Water plants, reeds, etc., the various species 
of irises, and other free-blooming water plants 



Water 95 

in the " pleasure-ground," are extremely useful. 
They blend the different parts of the picture in 
a light and agreeable way. Reeds are best sown 
by kneading the seeds in balls of clay and then 
throwing them into the water. 

(See, for the above, Plate VI. The form ^ is 
by no means the worst which I have seen car- 
ried out, nor will I say that g is the best for 
execution ; but the latter will assuredly make a 
more picturesque effect, and from no point of 
view will the end of the water be visible, which 
is one of the chief considerations.) 



Chapter X 



Islands 



A LONELY spot in a well-wooded island, 
or the distant view of a mass of arching 
foliage swimming on the crystal surface of the 
water, is more attractive to many than all the 
charms obtainable on dry land. This pleasure 
also must, therefore, be sought and provided 
for. 

Islands scattered in a large lake or judiciously 
arranged in the broad, flowing river are of great 
assistance and add much to the beauty of the 
whole by their variety. Here, too, the example 
of Nature must be very fully studied. It is re- 
markable how seldom this is the case, and I can 
hardly remember having seen anywhere an arti- 
ficial island which did not betray at first glance 
its forced, unnatural origin. Thus I recently 
found, even in the small celebrated Royal Gar- 
dens attached to Buckingham House, which I 
have highly praised elsewhere, one which repre- 
sented more the picture of a pudding in its sauce 
than an island built up by Nature. It is true 
that Nature sometimes indulges in peculiar freaks, 
but there is always yV ne sais quoi, which cannot 
be attained by mere imitation; therefore, it be- 
comes us to follow her rules, not her exceptions. 



Islands 97 

just as the painter must avoid certain true effects, 
merely because, being too rare or too difficult to 
represent, they must appear unnatural even if 
they should not be so. Here also one may ap- 
ply the saying, " Le vrai souvent tiest pas vrai- 
semblable." 

Generally, as I have said, artificial islands can 
be recognized at the first glance. Their shape is 
either oval or round, sloping down equally on all 
sides, and planted at random in separate patches. 
Nature forms them quite otherwise, seldom by 
building up, more frequently by erosion. For 
how does an island originate ? It is made by 
flowing water, and there are laws for it. Either 
a piece of land which has withstood the pressure 
of the flood by its height and solidity, or which 
has been forcibly torn away, or an eminence 
which is quietly surrounded by a stream in its 
course, or finally, accumulated soil which has 
been borne along by the stream, remains after 
the flood has receded as an island above low 
water. In the first case sudden declivities and 
corners and abrupt, as well as rounded, lines 
will appear. (See Plate VII, a.) In the second 
and third case (see Plate VII, b^y the ends will 
nearly always be sharply pointed; a rounded 
oval will seldom be the result ; never an entirely 
rounded island. Islands in the middle of a stream, 
or, at least, those at some distance from the 
bank, mostly take the shapes here indicated. 
Single obstructions produce different shapes ; for 
instance, a break in the side will probably result 



98 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

in shape c (see Plate VII, c) with some incidental 
nuances in the detail of the line. 

Where the water flowing swiftly into a basin 
forms an island at the inlet, it will take about 
the shape of ^ (Plate VII, ^) ; following the outer 
banks, the swiftly flowing stream, by its strong 
pressure on both sides, will somewhat round the 
ends. But if the river widens into a lake by 
gently filling a deep basin, rather than by rush- 
ing into it, then e (Plate VII, ^) may be assumed 
as the natural shape, for here the river does not 
round off both sides, but forms, in a slow cur- 
rent on the right, a long spit on the left bank, 
beyond which the quiet water, no longer in a 
powerful stream, gently flows round the higher 
ground. Very seldom, on the other hand, does 
a stream flow into a basin as is generally made 
out, after the model of a bottle. (See Plate 
VII, /.) 

Let the surface and shelving of an island on 
the same principle be constructed in accordance 
with the probable effect of the terrain and the 
water which washes it. The equal shelving on 
all sides with equality of height throughout is 
the commonest mistake. I fell into this error 
at first. (See the objectionable form g and the 
better form y6, in Plate VII; ^ is bad and h is 
good.) 

But even the best forms may be bettered by 
plantations skillfully arranged, covering the spots 
that appear less satisfactory and giving more 
variety to the surface without disturbing the 




Plate VII. A Diagram showing Different Arrangements of Islands 



Islands 99 

harmony, concerning which the right feeling 
certainly must again decide, united taste and ex- 
perience recognizing the proper course, which 
cannot be altogether taught by correct rule. 
What has been said about shrubberies applies 
also to islands, since the former may be consid- 
ered as islands of shrubs on the lawn. I append 
here only two examples, / and k, which can be 
much modified. Islands planted down to the 
water's edge cannot be quite failures, be their 
shape what it may, and if the construction is 
poor, it is the only alternative. I should never 
recommend leaving the island entirely unplanted, 
even if it is of a very good form, since the bare 
outline of Nature, if I may so express it, is the 
most difficult of all to imitate. Finally, one 
must confess that, with all our endeavors to em- 
ulate Nature, she yet retains in petto something 
unattainable, and says to us poor human beings, 
" Thus far and no farther." 



Chapter XI 



Rocks 



IT is a doubtful task to make rocks, and where 
Nature does not supply the real thing in the 
neighborhood so that it can be blasted and built 
up again in its old form, no one can quite reach 
his ideal by any imitation. 

But there is a middle course for which Na- 
ture likewise supplies models ; that is, masses of 
heaped-up stones driven together by floods or 
mountain streams, which, without human agency, 
present something of a rocky character and are 
at least extremely picturesque. 

This genre can be well imitated, and one only 
needs to be careful to make such piles consistent 
by allowing isolated pieces of rock to lie about 
in the vicinity and by placing the rocks so that 
they emerge from earth, plantation, or water, 
and are only partially visible, never in their whole 
circumference. They may also occasionally be 
connected with a stretch of wall built of blasted 
field stone, as if, for some purpose, say recon- 
structing a bridge or supporting a steep bank, 
one had merely taken advantage of the rocks 
which had naturally accumulated and had sup- 
plemented the rest with a wall for the same 
purpose. This supplies the opportunity to col- 




< 

c 

< 



Rocks ioi 

lect such plants as demand a rocky soil, and 
which are often very ornamental, especially near 
water, where such rock-work is most desirable 
for a bulkhead, dam, strong wall, etc., and in a 
large park they are almost indispensable. 

A slight artistic touch which can be recom- 
mended is to set the stones in a slanting direc- 
tion, as if they had been forced up in that 
manner, and to make one or more of the edges 
stand out conspicuously, which gives the whole 
a more picturesque and bold aspect. As an ex- 
ample for illustration I append the drawings of 
two dams and a supporting wall which have 
been built according to these principles on my 
estate. (See Plates VIII, IX, and X.) 

The dams were built from the foundation, as 
far as they were not visible, of brick, in a rock 
wall, and then covered and overlapped with 
pieces of rock, while, of course, needful care 
was taken to obtain the most picturesque fall of 
water, which must, by no means, be left to 
chance, and also to arrange the shrubberies and 
plantations suitably. 



Chapter XII 

Earthworks and Esplanades 



THERE is not much to be said about this 
subject, except that such works should be 
avoided as much as possible. The natural un- 
evenness of the terrain is, as a rule, more pictur- 
esque than inequalities painfully wrought out by 
art. Artificial hills generally make little effect, 
and should be made only where necessary in 
order to obtain a view from their summits, to 
give additional height to a plantation, or to 
get rid of the earth dug from a lake. The direc- 
tions given for islands may be substantially fol- 
lowed here, since water has often contributed to 
the shaping of the natural elevations, partly 
rounding them or partly tearing them away. 
The surfaces and sides should be alternated by 
steep and more gradual lines without running 
into confusion, and plantations should do the 
rest. 

When fine old trees that you do not wish to 
remove happen to stand on a spot to be filled 
in, the custom in England is to surround them 
with a kind of well constructed of stones, in 
which air and moisture can penetrate to the 
roots. With oaks, however, this is not necessary. 
I have been surprised to find that old as well as 



Earthworks and Esplanades 103 

young oaks may be buried up to one third of 
their height without suffering in the least. 

Although in general a certain undulation of 
the terrain is advisable, at times an excellent 
effect is brought about by making the bottom 
of little valleys, having steep surroundings, quite 
level. We often find such formations in Nature 
which charm us by the contrast. 

On meadows, as a rule, here. and there the 
little ups and downs must be leveled, for practi- 
cal reasons as well as appearance, but larger un- 
dulations of the terrain should in no case be 
unnecessarily disturbed. But if, nevertheless, it 
is desirable for other reasons to remove and level 
any considerable height, and any fine trees hap- 
pen to be standing there which should not be 
removed, then I advise leaving them standing 
on single small hillocks (tertres^ which give the 
meadow still more variety, for which reason I 
have often deliberately planted in this way and 
with good results. In this connection I will add 
a remark that would have been more in place 
in a former chapter. If it is desired to select the 
best point of view from which to see an unusu- 
ally fine tree or group of trees, this must be 
sought, not at the foot of the group, but from a 
point about half its height, if possible from a 
steep slope, and at a distance double its height. 
It will then appear twice as imposing as if seen 
from the foot, where one must look up to it. 

In all soil removals, where no gravel plots, 
roads, or houses are intended, the humus or top 



104 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

soil must be carefully removed and spread over 
the finished surface again, as everybody knows, 
yet I have seen this precaution neglected more 
often than one would think. 



Chapter XIII 

Maintenance 



HAVING explained in the preceding chap- 
ters how a landscape may be ennobled and 
in a way created by art, I conclude with a few 
words as to its maintenance. It is quite impos- 
sible to plant a large, extensive park so that it 
will present the same picture when full grown 
as it did at the beginning, except on an altered 
scale, and so that the objects in it shall be for- 
ever after in the right relation to one another ; 
for Nature cannot be calculated so accurately 
and it would also take too much time. 

Here we meet with the drawbacks of our art, 
in a certain sense, though it may also be regarded 
as an advantage. For it is impossible to create a 
finished, permanent work of art in landscape 
gardening, such as the painter, sculptor, and 
architect are able to produce, because our ma- 
terial is not inanimate, but living ; we can say 
of the landscape gardeners' art, as of all Nature's 
own pictures, as Fichte said of the German lan- 
guage, " It is about to be, but never is " ; that 
is, it never stands still, can never be fixed and 
left to itself. Hence a skillful guiding hand is 
always necessary for works of this kind. If the 
hand is lacking too long, they not only deterio- 



io6 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

rate, they become something quite different ; but 
if the hand is present, beauties are continually 
being added without losing or sacrificing those 
already in existence. The chief tool which we 
use — that is, our brush and chisel — is the spade 
for construction; the chief tool for maintenance and 
improvement is the axe. It must not rest for a 
single winter, or it will happen to us with the 
trees as with the water-carriers in the tale of the 
"Wizard's Apprentice" — they will grow over 
our heads. 

But the axe is just as necessary for keeping 
the plantations everywhere at the right height 
as for attaining the right density, for giving them 
plenty of air, and for providing against over- 
crowding. As, moreover, thinning is the quick- 
est and lightest work, and in winter there is not 
much else to be done, there is always plenty of 
time for it, provided one never misses a year. 

To keep large masses of mixed plantations at 
a given height one must not, as it were, decapi- 
tate them all, but only regularly every year cut 
out the highest growth, which then for the 
greater part will produce new undergrowth, and 
after a certain term of years will begin in turn 
to be the highest. In this manner the planta- 
tions appear always of the same age and natural 
form, a piece of art of which it may be truly 
said that it is a pity that it cannot be applied to 
mankind. 

Where there are narrow vistas, single trees 
must be decapitated here and there, but this can 



Maintenance 107 



be done so that the tree will not be disfigured, 
at least, not when it is covered with leaves. The 
evergreens must be cut close exactly at the crown 
of the branches, — I mean at the base of one 
of its yearly growths, — and then the branches 
tied together. This conceals the operation very 
quickly. With deciduous trees also the branches 
must be cut out only where another branch is 
growing close by, so that a naked stump is never 
left conspicuous. The oftener groups of this sort 
are skillfully cut, the less will be the work and 
the more thick and natural will they grow. I 
repeat, however, that one must not miss any- 
thing, and at the outset one should calculate how 
high the plantations are intended to be, for after 
too long neglect it is difficult to regulate them 
without damage. 

I have said before that density and vigorous 
growth in vegetation can be got only by thin- 
ning the plantations. This is most important ; 
otherwise one rears nothing but wooden sticks, 
which at times may find place in a park for the 
sake of variety, but their presence cannot be con- 
sidered the rule. For free development on all 
sides every plant requires as much light and air 
as it can obtain consistently with the health, 
density, and luxuriousness of all. This is the 
freedom of the trees, that freedom which we 
human beings also desire so much for our- 
selves. 

Large sections of forests, which are not in- 
tended to be in the nature of a grove, are treated 



io8 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

simply in forester's style; that is, at stated pe- 
riods they are thinned out according to the na- 
ture of the wood ; with birches, sixty to eighty 
(because birches in shade when cut down recover 
with difficulty) ; with other kinds, about one 
hundred larger trees can be left standing on an 
acre. The only alteration which I permit myself 
is that the larger trees are left standing, not all 
singly, but partly in groups, which is more in 
accordance with landscape, if not with forester's, 
principles, with us, of course, the first considera- 
tion. 

All that I have laid down here applies especi- 
ally to landscape on a large scale — to the park. 
In the " pleasure-ground " and the gardens one 
is justified, by the smaller scale and the far larger 
choice of plants (especially the number of shrubs 
which serve the purpose), in a looser application 
of these rules, for only so much thinning out is 
necessary as concerns the health of the plants, 
or at times the improvement of their shape. 
'^ On the maintenance of meadows I have al- 
ready enlarged, and so no further remarks are 
necessary except that every year they must be 
rolled at least once and if possible twice ; that 
moles must be diligently caught; that in spring 
and autumn these meadows must be watered ; 
and that every three or four years they must be 
manured if they are to be always fresh and thick- 
set. Rivers and lakes require occasional repairs 
when damaged by accidents, but no maintenance. 
The more the water gnaws at the shores, and 



Maintenance 109 



the more the edges are clothed with green and 
water plants, the better. 

But the cleaning out of ponds which are not 
very deep is advisable every three years, partly 
to prevent clogging of the bottom with water 
mosses and other plants, partly for economy's 
sake, because the collected sediment or mud 
makes the best manure for meadows. 

I believe I have enumerated herewith all the 
chief points in the theory of our profession, land- 
scape gardening (although in accordance with 
my plan, only partially and in a cursory manner), 
and shall pass on to the second practical part 
which describes the application of the foregoing 
to a particular spot. 



PART SECOND 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PARK IN 
MUSKAU AND ITS ORIGIN 



Part Second 

Description of the Park in Muskau 
and its Origin 



I CONFESS that it is with some trepidation 
that I begin the present description. Although 
this little work, in view of its purely didactic 
nature, can make no great pretension to be en- 
tertaining, yet it is to be feared that the follow- 
ing very dry analysis of certain special conditions 
must be tedious in still greater degree than the 
foregoing part to any one who does not have a 
very personal interest in such undertakings. 

Nevertheless, it is a fact that I have taken up 
the pen only for this latter class, and less apology 
is due them because I found myself obliged, in 
order to make the matter readable, to introduce 
much that was personal. No doubt it can interest 
the great public but little, while those who de- 
sire to turn the book to account as a guide and 
handbook for their own undertakings may find 
in these personal matters some profit ; for many 
will find themselves in similar situations, either 
in respect to the whole or in this or that detail, 
and will perhaps be less intimidated by difiicul- 
ties and overcome them more easily when they 
see how I succeeded in mastering them. 

I must begin by frankly confessing that who- 



114 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

ever should expect to find in Muskau already a 
completed, I mean a finished, work, would be 
quite disappointed. Hardly a third of the plan 
has so far been carried out, although perhaps 
three-fourths of the work has been done ; for sel- 
dom has a private person had to contend in such 
undertakings with greater obstacles than I have. 
Among others more than two thousand acres of 
the needful terrain were the property of individ- 
ual citizens of the town or the neighboring vil- 
lages, and we know how difficult it is to acquire 
such pieces of land, even at three or four times 
their value. Moreover, a whole street in the 
small town, which ran directly past my " Schloss " 
or castle, had to be bought first, then removed 
to suit my plan, and a lake had to be dug on the 
spot. A number of large, and in part even magnifi- 
cent, buildings belonging to me were so unfortu- 
nately situated that they could not remain. Again, 
the castle itself was surrounded by ancient fortifi- 
cations, deep moats and walls eight to ten feet 
thick, which last had been built in the solid old 
times of our forefathers, and would have to be 
blown up with powder.^ 

But the work of destroying these fortifications 
and filling up the moats was unavoidable, partly 
because the stagnant standing water was detri- 
mental to health and partly because the whole 

' I was compelled to make a regular assault with battering-rams 
manned by twenty or thirty men, and, in order to get rid of them, to 
bury the pieces broken down which still stuck together. One does not 
make such walls nowadays, neither common masons nor freemasons, nor 
statesmen and nations, however anxious they are to build. 



The Park in Muskau 115 

genre Q-ppesred foreign to the character and purpose 
of the building as well as to the whole region. 

In order to obtain the earth required for filling 
in, and at the same time be able to have the com- 
mand of several pieces of water, it was necessary 
to plan and excavate a new arm from the river 
which runs through the park, which arm, in a 
course of two or three miles, forms two lakes of 
considerable area. The last and perhaps the great- 
est difficulty was that five to six hundred acres 
of land nearest to the castle consisted of barren 
sand and clay, hard as iron, and this could only 
be made fertile at great expense. 

I therefore was confronted with more difficul- 
ties at the very outset than many a man in a more 
favorable situation finds throughout his entire 
work. Plate XI, for instance, gives the view from 
the drawing-rooms of the castle as it is now, and 
on the flap or folding sheet, as it was. On Plates 
^ and B, two ground-plans of the park in these 
different epochs, one can follow every detail of 
my descriptions.^ 

The greater part of the preliminary work is 
now complete; all that remains is the construc- 
tion of roads, plantations, and small changes of 
the surface by grading, and the erection of sev- 
eral buildings, all of which will be easy in com- 
parison with the really colossal earthwork done 
at the beginning, although considerable time and 

' I have purposely not drawn these plans in the picturesque manner 
now so much in favor, since picturesque effects are only adequately 
shown in pictures, while here it was a question of concise statement of 
particulars. 



ii6 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

expense are still required. The great losses that 
I suffered for years through war and other un- 
toward circumstances have obliged me since then 
to proceed slowly, yet I hope to see the main 
part of the work completed within ten years, 
with the exception of some of the buildings, 
which I perhaps must leave for my descendants 
to complete. Until then, therefore, I request all 
who visit the park not to expect too much, and 
to suspend, for the greater part, their judgment 
on its present condition, and perhaps to rely more 
upon my book than on my achievements; since 
they might take for completed what is only pro- 
visional, and much would seem a failure to the 
expert which is only permitted to remain because 
more important matters necessarily precede its 
definite removal.^ 

It is hardly possible to lay out a park with suc- 
cess in sections ; that is, to complete entirely one 
part before beginning with the next. On the con- 
trary, for the artistic interests of the whole, as 
well as for economy of time and money, every- 
thing must, so far as it is feasible, progress in 
unison ; almost, one may say, as good strategy 
will unite troops from various positions for the 
decisive battle, so here the goal will be reached 
by converging from all sides, not piecemeal. 

' Thus, I was recently blamed by a very capable expert for planting 
too many kinds of trees together and for laying out too few groves. He 
was right, but had not considered that only the plants which are happi- 
est in their growth are destined to remain; the others will be removed; 
and that groves should be constructed where the growth has reached its 
best period, and that until then the trees have been properly treated. 



The Park in Muskau 117 

When all is finished, the greater, nay, the 
greatest, part of the real merit of the work will 
remain unnoticed by the casual stranger, and the 
more that this is true, the better it is. But this is 
just the intelligent man's endeavor and triumph 
to make one believe that everything which he 
sees must be exactly so and not otherwise, and 
that from all time it has not been very different. 
It would grieve me much if, for instance, at the 
sight of the luxuriant meadows in my park, any 
one should now trouble himself with the idea 
that formerly here the thistle scarcely grew, 
or, when he comfortably rolls by on the level 
drive amidst abundant foliage he should be sud- 
denly brought up by the reflection, that formerly 
in this place a bottomless morass hardly afforded 
an approach to grazing cattle. The perfection of 
landscape art is reached only in the region where 
it again appears to be untrammeled Nature, but 
in her noblest manifestation. We find here a cu- 
rious affinity between the art of the landscape 
maker and that of the actor, since these are the 
only two among all the arts that take Nature 
herself for material and at the same time for the 
representation of the theme, the actor endeavor- 
ing to portray in his own person ideal man and 
the landscape maker welding together the mate- 
rial as he finds it in the rough and creating ideal 
landscape. Unfortunately the similarity can be 
carried still further, for the creations of both art- 
ists are fleeting, although the landscape maker 
still has some advantages over the actor. 



ii8 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

Even so one might compare a higher garden 
art with music and, at least as fitly as architecture 
has been called "frozen music," to call garden 
art " growing music." It, too, has its symphonies, 
adagios, and allegros, which stir the senses with 
vague but powerful emotions. Further, as Nature 
offers her features to the landscape gardener for 
use and choice, so does she offer to music her fun- 
damental tones; beautiful like the human voice, 
the song of birds, the thunder of the tempest, the 
roaring of the hurricane, the bodeful wailing of 
branches — ugly sounds like howling, bellowing, 
clattering, and squeaking. Yet the instruments 
bring all these out and work, according to cir- 
cumstances, ear-splitting sounds in the hands of 
the incompetent, entrancing when arranged by 
the artist in an orderly whole. The genial Na- 
ture painter does the same. He studies the mani- 
fold material given him by Nature and by his art 
works the scattered parts into a beautiful whole, 
whose melody flatters the senses, but unfolds its 
highest powers and yields the greatest enjoyment 
only when harmony has breathed true soul into 
the work. 

But I wander too far from my theme. I shall 
be asked, perhaps, after this enumeration of all 
my difficulties, why I undertook such a work at 
all? The grounds for doing so are the follow- 
ing:— 

When I conceived the plan of such a large 
undertaking, my first reflection was this, that it 
does not become a man, who has succeeded to 



The Park in Muskau 119 

estates owned by his forefathers for centuries, to 
turn his back on them and to seek his occupa- 
tion or pleasure in life in a foreign country as long 
as want or honor do not drive him to emigrate. 
The property which I took over was very con- 
siderable. A free lordship, endowed with sub- 
ordinate sovereign rights and including the de- 
pendent vassal property covering an area of ten 
to eleven miles square, contains all that such 
a situation demands, and consequently simplifies 
the task for making further improvements. In 
short, it might be regarded as an attractive place 
to sojourn in itself. But, on the other hand, I 
found this property carelessly left to its poverty 
and lack of charm ; some luxury, it is true, but 
nothing which showed the cult of the beautiful 
was to be seen. Under these circumstances the 
field for embellishment before me was a large one, 
and I therefore held it to be my duty to be useful 
here, all the more because I am of the opinion 
that a large landowner, who directs his energies 
continually to improve as well as to embellish his 
property, to civilize the inhabitants given over to 
his care, to increase their welfare and thereby 
make the burdens of the land easier to them — 
that man, I say, has at least earned as much grati- 
tude from the State and is as much a true if vol- 
untary and unpaid servant of the State as an official 
who for a high salary sits for a few hours at a 
desk, or a diplomat, for whom sometimes a post 
almost amounting to a sinecure must be paid for 
with many thousands, — a truth which many of 



I20 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

our rulers still seem to ignore, not exactly to the 
profit of their country. 

Even if I felt free to take the view that I did, 
it was still a question whether, all things con- 
sidered, I could have expected, with so few diffi- 
culties, such great advantages as I found here. 

The drawbacks were : — 

( 1 ) A generally sandy region covered for the 
greater part with pine forests. 

(2) A large area of poor soil in the territory 
destined for the park. 

(3) The necessity for tremendous preliminary 
work before I could be in a position even to be- 
gin the new grounds. 

(4) The necessary acquisition of more than 
two thousand acres of land that I did not own. 

The advantages were as follows : — 

( 1 ) A picturesque " lie " of the ground every- 
where, and a great variety of mountain and valley 
and the prospect of the Silesian and Oberlausitz 
Mountains. 

(2) The presence of a considerable stream 
which flows through the land which is to form 
the park and makes, for some distance from the 
banks, a rich, though narrow, pasture ground. 

(3) Many hundreds of the most beautiful old 
trees, which were already scattered throughout 
this territory. 

(4) The ease with which — as soon as the 
enclosure of the above-mentioned two thousand 
acres of land, recently purchased, had been com- 
pleted — I could extend operations as far as re- 



The Park in Muskau 121 

quired on my own soil and land, while in this 
region the consequent loss of farm acreage was 
not a very great consideration. 

(5) The general cheapness of land labor and 
cartage. 

(6) All building material of my own produc- 
tion, coming from brick kilns, iron foundries, 
and glassworks, also wood of every kind in pro- 
fusion, also abundance of field stones, large and 
small, mostly of granite, rich marl quarries, etc. 

(7) Lastly, the various means furnished by 
such a large estate and by the disposition of so 
many clerks and dependents whereby, on a large 
scale, development is secured. 

It will be seen that drawback (i) is nullified 
by the advantages mentioned in advantage (i), 
and it is almost a moot point whether such an 
oasis, surrounded with woods, like an island by 
the sea, cannot be, perhaps, the most favorable 
spot for grounds of this kind.' 

Moreover, forests of dark pine woods, melan- 
choly when seen near at hand, at a distance 
make a background and horizon against whose 
dark masses the young green of deciduous foli- 
age near by appears twice as gay, and colored 
clouds of heaven afford a more brilliant con- 
trast. 

Drawback (2): The soil which was partly 

' Passing as one must a whole tract of somewhat barren country 
before reaching Muskau, when all expectations are abandoned, a luxurious 
landscape, summoned as if by magic, strikes with twice the force, just 
as (if the comparison does not appear trivial) a rich meal is best en- 
joyed by a hungry stomach. 



122 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

bad might be improved by a pasture, and this 
was done later on; and drawback (3) was solved 
in greater part by advantage (4). But here came 
a still more important consideration. The hard- 
ships caused by war were nothing less than un- 
bearable for the poor peasants ; the burdens and 
state imposts had become exorbitant. Without 
an exceptional opportunity to earn wages, I may 
say, as acknowledged by all the people around, 
a proportion of the inhabitants here would have 
starved or been forced to emigration of the most 
helpless kind. 

Nearly two hundred people whom I employed 
for many years almost daily, partly in my fac- 
tories, which at that time were my only source 
of income, partly in the grounds, owe their ex- 
istence to this alone, and so it was a precious 
boon to me that I could in such an easy man- 
ner combine my duty with my pleasure. How 
seldom is this the lot of poor mankind ! 

Nevertheless, I encountered much opposition ; 
and when I began to demolish the road and to 
use the material to fill the moat, several persons 
were even doubtful whether I was still in my 
right mind, and many capitalists who had put 
money into my property gave me notice at once 
and withdrew it, only to lose it later in stock 
speculations. Others asserted that it was impos- 
sible^ even for a man ten times as rich as I, to 
realize such projects. But he who lets himself 
be frightened by this word has but little experi- 
ence; nineteen times out of twenty a firm will 



The Park in Muskau 123 

and patience make the so-called " impossible " 
quite easily possible. 

In my own case faith has literally removed 
more than one mountain, and erected as many, 
and when people saw that things were going, 
they began to put more faith in my plans ; and 
I thankfully acknowledge that I afterwards found 
friendly support where I expected only resist- 
ance. Even my Wendish peasants, constituting 
the chief part of the population, and standing 
on a level of culture not exactly of the highest 
kind, have acquired some sense of the beautiful, 
so that they have since decorated their villages 
with trees. If they at times stole wood in my 
park, yet they only cut the stakes to which trees 
were tied, without doing the slightest injury to 
the young trees themselves, a piece of delicate 
consideration which in the case of Wends de- 
serves ample recognition. 

I mention this only to encourage others not 
to give in too soon when " impossibility " is set 
up against the realization of their dearest hopes. 
Thus, I allowed every one, without consideration 
of persons, access to my grounds, although many 
landowners assured me that this was likewise 
" impossible," since the rough, often drunken, 
people would cut down all the young trees and 
pluck all the flowers. It is true that some ex- 
cesses occurred at first. They were sharply pun- 
ished when the culprits could be identified, and 
when not, the damage was quickly and patiently 
repaired, and the gates remained as before, open 



124 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

to every one. Very soon people were impressed 
by this steady perseverance ; when often hun- 
dreds take their pleasure in the spacious park, I 
must admit, for the credit of the public, that 
any serious mischief is quite exceptional. 

My whole conduct in this has even obtained 
the general approval of my former subjects,' in 
spite of the hoards of pettifoggers and overseers 
which have lately overrun our province, of 
whom there are many who understand better 
how to egg on peasants and landowners against 
one another, emptying the pockets of both, than 
to further harmony and culture, which is what 
they forsooth proclaim as their aim. But since 
then, the greatness of the evil itself, as well as 
the true humanity of the higher magistrates, 
have procured remedies, and in the highest man- 
ner the graciousness of our Lord the King is 
never to be sufficiently praised ; so I will hasten 
from such repellent, and, God be thanked, partly 
past, prose, and return to the innocent creations 
of fancy. 

I take this opportunity of returning once more 
to the first chapter of this work, where I spoke 
of the main idea which guided me in the lay- 
ing-out of this park. I must, however, recount 
in detail what were the preliminary steps to be 
taken. 

The region which was to serve me as a canvas 

' They are now called " Hintersassen " (vassals or copy-holders), 
since subjects are now only held by the sovereign, and in France not 
even by him. Assuredly the times are marching with seven-league 
boots ! 



The Park in Muskau 



125 



consisted, as I have already remarked, of boundless 
pine and fir woods on all sides, in whose center, in 
a hilly region, the little country town of Muskau 
lies. The town is especially distinguished by 
houses which are, without exception, massive, 
by several pretty churches and towers, and by a 
certain general neatness, and lies picturesquely 
on the side of a mountain, up to whose summit 
the terrace gardens of the burghers climb. Fruit 
gardens and little summer houses make the aspect 
very pleasant. On the wide eastern mountain 
plateau over the town, and in its immediate 
neighborhood, one sees hidden, in limes and 
oaks, the village of Berg with one of the oldest 
church ruins in the Lausitz. Farther south, at 
the end of the little town, the slope becomes 
steeper and describes a half-circle, where it is 
covered by tall beeches, oaks, and isolated ever- 
greens, and presents many romantic ravines. Here 
is an alum mine with large buildings, refining 
and other works. The ridge of the chain of hills 
here turns south again, and reaches its highest 
point at an old vineyard where there is an exten- 
sive view over the river Neisse and the moun- 
tains of Silesia, Gorlitz, and Bautzen. Here the 
hills disappear by degrees into the thick forest. 

If one follows the same chain of hills from 
the other end of the town, toward the north, 
one arrives at the steep wooded shore of the 
Neisse; a road runs alongside which from here 
discloses a view of a bridge and a village crowned 
by a forest. 



126 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

The reader may easily follow this description 
on the plan (Plate XI), where the region is 
shown as it used to be. He will further observe 
how directly in front of the town the Neisse 
meadows broaden out to the east, a completely 
level valley through which the river runs for its 
entire length. In this level place lie the old and 
new castle, with their outbuildings, the theater, 
stables, etc., close by the town, and a few hun- 
dred paces farther a manor house as it used to 
be and other buildings, now merely an old- 
fashioned mill, the farmhouse, and some out- 
buildings to which formerly a street of the town 
near the castle used to lead. 

The castle itself was surrounded on the other 
side of the moats and fortifications by French 
and kitchen gardens, later by a few of the novel 
pseudo-English gardens, misunderstood in the 
usual way that I have described as typical of the 
Fatherland, but also by some remarkably fine 
and wide linden avenues, which a foolish gar- 
dener had partly decapitated, to protect a badly 
placed orange house from the probable fall of 
such large trees. The same absurdity was re- 
peated farther on, where a pheasantry was placed 
between meadows and deciduous forests. Several 
giant firs have been either destroyed entirely, or 
at least deprived of their crowns, under the pre- 
text that an old, half-blind pheasant keeper could 
not, it was presumed, shoot the birds of prey 
which were wont to settle on the tops of the 
trees. The remaining portion of the level space 



The Park in Muskau 127 

was occupied by desolate, bare fields, most of 
which belonged to the townsmen. Yet the 
shores of the stream were enlivened everywhere 
by a quantity of the finest oaks and other tall 
trees. 

On the other side of the stream, continuing 
toward the east, not far from its shores, there 
rises another low ridge which forms the second 
plateau of the park ; this at some distance is bor- 
dered again by a chain of hills, on the summit 
of which there stretches a third still larger pla- 
teau that slopes, on the farther side very gradu- 
ally, toward the forest. On the edge of these 
woods lies the village of Braunsdorf with a farm- 
house, to which a badly kept avenue of lindens 
led, the line of which crossing the country, did 
not improve the aspect. I had most of them re- 
moved later on to give more character to some 
of the bare spots on the heights.' 

From the highest point of the last-named chain 
of hills, a very fine and wide view may be en- 
joyed. The foreground is formed by the Neisse 
Valley, with the township, the rising terrace 
gardens of which are picturesquely mingled with 
the thatched huts of the village of Berg, which 
here seem to hang almost immediately over the 
town. Southward in the ravines the alum works 

' As a remarkable example of the indifference of our forefathers to 
enjoyment and decorum, I may instance that on these hills exactly op- 
posite the castle the gallows stood for fifty years, the proximity of which, 
every time the wind blew from the east, was evident in the most dis- 
gusting manner. It cost me several thousands to get rid of this disagree- 
able neighbor. 



128 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

and potters' ovens are smoking day and night, 
and their pillars of fire with the approach of 
dusk light up the whole region every evening. 
Beyond is an expanse of fields following the 
course of the river, dotted with old oaks and 
other deciduous trees, and this part of the pic- 
ture is finally framed in by forests ; only the blue 
tops of the Landskrone, Tafelfichte, and Schnee 
Koppe can be discerned above the sea of dark- 
green foliage. On the right, finally, on the other 
side of the Neisse, spread wide meadows, shaded 
by tall trees, over which rises the fir-covered 
mountain of the glassworks of Wolfshayn, the es- 
tate of the famous jurist and philosopher Gravell. 
Turning around, one sees only the wavy lines of 
the dense black forest, dwindling to the farthest 
horizon, unbroken save here and there by the 
gleaming tips of a few distant church spires. 

On this spot now stands a ruined pavilion, and 
in ancient times stood, according to the legend, 
a castle or watch-tower, of which there are still 
some remains of ruined walls and cellars, such as 
may be found in the neighboring fir woods of 
Keula. A rather remarkable occurrence during 
the war threw a new light on -this town, which, 
however, like an ignis fatuus^ disappeared as 
quickly as it came. One day a Russian staff offi- 
cer appeared at the house of the Burgermaster 
of the town, and springing from his foaming 
Cossack steed, asked for some man who knew 
the neighborhood well, to conduct him in a 
search which was of great importance to him 



The Park in Muskau 129 

and for which he had but little time to spare. 
Under the peculiar circumstances of that time, 
his request could hardly be refused, but, being 
rather uneasy about the unknown intentions of 
the stranger, a reliable person was sought out and 
directed to make an exact report of whatever 
happened. This individual afterwards made the 
following report: The strange officer began by 
interrogating his guide at great length concern- 
ing all the conditions of this place, and at length 
disclosed, but with strict injunctions of the great- 
est secrecy, that he was here with the intention 
of discovering a considerable treasure, of whose 
existence and probable situation he possessed the 
fullest particulars. He had been born in Moscow 
and his Slav forefathers had in former times pos- 
sessed the town of Muskau, whose name for- 
merly was pronounced in the same manner and 
had the same Slav origin as Moscow.^ Their cas- 
tle used to stand in the forest, and a watch-tower 
stood on the high hill already mentioned. 

Upon this he showed the man a mouldy but 
yet decipherable plan of the main features of the 
region, and by pacing off in accordance with the 
indications thereon, he really discovered the hith- 
erto quite unknown remains of a cellar, and, about 
forty paces farther on, those of a filled-up well, 
where they began at once to dig, but could dis- 
cover nothing but a few small coins which were 

» It is rather striking that the attribution of a Slav origin is fairly cor- 
roborated by an old manuscript chronicle of the town, in which it is 
written as Moska. On the land charts it is also named in the same way. 



130 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

covered with green mould, and whose inscrip- 
tion had been quite obUterated. As after contin- 
uous toil nothing further came to light, the strange 
treasure-seeker sent his assistant back, with the 
announcement that on the morrow he would 
bring more men with him. But the following 
day he did not turn up, and when on the third 
day the guide once more found himself alone on 
the spot, he discovered that the earth had been 
rummaged deeper still so that there was no doubt 
that a fresh search had been made. The results 
of it, as well as the mysterious officer, remained 
unknown, and all the digging which some years 
later I undertook from curiosity, when I learned 
the events on my return from the campaign, also 
remained fruitless. 

These data are not entirely unconnected with 
the following development of my plans. 

After I had acquainted myself with the local- 
ity I have depicted, and the possibility of carry- 
ing out my plans, I decided to lay out as a park, 
with the exception of the gardens already exist- 
ing, the whole river domain with its bordering 
plateaus and hill chains, pheasantry, field, manor, 
mill, alum works, etc., from the last ravines of 
the hill descending to the south to the villages 
of Kobeln and Braunsdorf on the north (alto- 
gether nearly four thousand acres of land), and 
by taking in the slope behind the town, and a 
portion of the village of Berg situated thereon, 
to surround the town itself in such a way that it 
would become merely a part of the park. 



The Park in Muskau 131 

As it is a town which was formerly subject to 
me and is still dependent upon me, its inclusion 
in the project had an historical significance ; for 
the main idea which formed the foundation of 
the whole conception was nothing less than to 
present a sensible picture of the life of our fam- 
ily, or of the aristocracy of our country, in such 
a way that the idea should, as it were, become 
of itself apparent to the beholder. For this pur- 
pose it was only necessary to utilize what was 
already there, to elevate and enrich in the same 
spirit, but not to violate its locality and history. 
Many ultra-liberals will perhaps smile at such a 
thought, but every form of human development 
is worthy of honor, and just because that of which 
I speak is perhaps nearing its end, it assumes a 
universal, poetic, and romantic interest, which 
so far cannot be extracted from factories, ma- 
chines, or even constitutions, suum cuique. Yours 
is now money and power — leave to the poor, 
worn-out nobility its poetry, the sole thing which 
is left to it. Honor the weak old age, ye Spar- 
tans ! 

I selected, therefore, as the central point, the 
mountain dominating the region, as the ruins of 
walls and the old legends sufficiently indicated 
that it had once been the site of a feudal castle, 
and it was decided to erect a building in the 
simple style which was predominant in the Mid- 
dle Ages for buildings of this kind, much like 
some of the oldest castles on the Rhine in a 
fairly good state of preservation. It was essential 



132 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

that art should give this castle the appearance of 
real antiquity, but it was to be no useless ruin, 
such as when newly constructed too much re- 
sembles a mere plaything and must miss a decep- 
tive effect because too much is left to the imagi- 
nation. It should be merely an old castle, which, 
in course of time, served other purposes; in short, 
a partially reconstructed, often repaired, and con- 
tinually used complete structure, of which there 
are many such examples in our province. By 
virtue of its location, it could therefore be very 
appropriately used as the main building for farm 
purposes and stables, since from the valley it ap- 
pears to stand on steep heights on the border of 
the forest, but on the other side its proximity to 
the widest plateau makes it accessible from the 
more level ground. The so-called inner "Burg," 
with the solitary high watch-tower, from which 
in these days, of course, no misshaped dwarf is 
on the lookout for strange foes, was to serve as 
a dwelling for the master and the tower as a fire- 
watch, which, with the frequent forest fires of our 
region, is only too necessary. Besides, if it were 
thought more in keeping and more romantic, a 
modern Seni' might employ himself with as- 
trology in undisturbed solitude, or an alchemist, 
for instance (as they are by no means extinct), 
nay, even the baying of hounds, which was so 
obligatory in all knightly tales, would not be 
lacking, as the trainer for the hounds was lodged 
there. 

' The name of the astrologer in Schiller's Wallenstein. 




Photographs by Thomas W. Sears 
Two \'iews of the Castle and Moat at Muskau 



The Park in Muskau 133 



But, joking apart, there is no lack of real tra- 
dition among the people to give fiction an his- 
torical basis. Besides the incidents I have related, 
the old chronicle of the town records the follow^- 
ing, which I translate into modern German with 
only a few remarks of my own : — 

Muskau or Mosca, otherwise called Muzakow, that 
is " Town of men," was in the time of the Sorbs a re- 
nowned holy place, where four of their temples stood 
in oak groves. Here the holy image of old times, the 
god of gods Swantewit, "the holy spirit, the holy fire," 
was worshiped. The oracles of the horse dedicated to 
him were promulgated by the priests, and the places 
of sacrifice — ^one quite close to the baths — ^are easily 
distinguishable. A large cemetery on the other side of 
the town, full of urns which are still sometimes ex- 
humed, indicates a place either largely populated, or at 
least inhabited from time immemorial. At the conver- 
sion of the Sorbs by Louis the Pious and to the time 
of Hildewardt III, Bishop of Meissen, in 1060, the 
worshipers of the old gods took refuge in these formerly 
almost impenetrable forests, and their religious rites 
were conducted for several centuries there with stealth 
and seclusion. The statue of the god Zeutiber was said 
to be still preserved here even at a much later date, 
although in a damaged condition.' 

The first "Graf" at Muskau was Theorious, whose 
daughter Juliane was given as wife to Wittekind's son 
of the same name. The Graf was said to be in great 
demand, and the renown of his name has descended to 
our times. 

' Compare the funeral monuments in the Troad and on the Euro- 
pean peninsula of the whole Hellespont as far as Ganochoro and Hera- 
clea, where the last examples are to be found. So in the Neisse Valley 
here, and especially near Buchwalde and Werdeck, there are high green 
hills covered with primeval oaks, called " Kraalsroo," or Kings' Graves, 
by the Sorbs and Wends to this day. 



134 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

The Hungarians, after their great battle, were for 
the first time entirely dispersed on their retreat in this 
valley, which was then all forest, by the brave hero, 
Graf Siegfried von Ringelhain, with the help of Graf 
Bruno von Askanien.' 

Markgraf Johann, son of Siegfried, built with his 
portion of the booty the strong and well-protected 
castle at Muskau as a land or frontier fortress, which 
even the Emperors Henry III and IV, in 1109, be- 
sieged in vain; afterwards the Markgraves had ceded 
it to Herzog Vladislaus of Poland, from whom it was 
acquired by Herzog Boleslaus of Bohemia. It was here 
that Vladislaus lived three years of love and bliss with 
the Herzog of Bohemia's daughter Michildam, after 
having eloped with the beautiful maid from the Hrad- 
schin, for whom her father had other intentions and 
indeed had refused to give her to him as his bride. 
There Boleslaus laid siege, beleaguered and stormed 
the castle of Muskau, and took it. But the father's 
anger had to yield to pity and mercy when he saw at 
his feet his daughter a prisoner with her lovely little 
boy. He forthwith forgave her, and Vladislaus, this 
young prince, was afterward Herzog in Bohemia, and 
showed, as Abraham Horsmann tells in his chronicle, 
much affection for his birthplace of Muskau. The 
town, which since that time had much grown, was laid 
waste by the Tartars in the fearful battle of 12,41, so 
important in its results. At that time also the old castle 
was destroyed, of whose mighty towers no trace is left, 
and of their site very little. The town was rebuilt on 
its old site, but the new castle was now placed close up 
to it. Knightly jousts and so-called "Torniamina" of 
nobles and other gatherings of important people often- 

' The great Burgundy Chronicle, Dr. Hegemuller's book of heraldry, 
printed in Munich, and Dr. Sekden's coat of arms, give certain things 
of this matter, in folio 133. An official letter for Muskau from the Em- 
peror Henry I. 



The Park in Muskau 135 

times took place here. Before the Reformation Muskau 
had a provost. This region from the time of the battle 
with the Tartars until the last war of liberty continu- 
ally experienced the horrors brought on by devasta- 
tion. 

First the Hussites pillaged it terribly. In the Thirty 
Years' War Tiefenbach burned all the villages round 
Muskau. The Croats plundered the town and castle. 
Wallenstein lay in 1633 several days in this region with 
the Imperial army. Soon after the forest was set on 
fire ; it burned for six weeks, and by neglect of the 
Swedes the new castle was also burned down ; it was 
afterwards rebuilt, improved, and enlarged. The town 
also was several times on fire, and, especially in the 
year 1766, was totally laid in ashes, but, thanks to this 
disaster, has a finer and more tasteful exterior than any 
other country town of the same size. 

So much for the documentary history of the 
town, of which one may say, without improba- 
bility, that on this same spot Vladislaus's beauti- 
ful daughter lived sweetly fearful days in love 
and terror. But as the poets often begin their 
labor at the end of their works and finish the 
beginning at the last, I have postponed the build- 
ing of this town until the last. 

In continuation of the chain of hills crowned 
with forest and at a short distance from the town, 
the cemetery chapel of the family will be found 
situated, approached by a bridge with a sharp 
curve. This chapel or church, the building of 
which would have been the first duty of our pious 
forefathers, is therefore probably copied from a 
like ancient source and, with due regard to its 
purpose, built in Byzantine, or, better still, in 



136 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

Roman, style. Farther on may be seen, at about 
the same distance on the same declivity, a roughly 
walled prominence on which an old lime tree has 
grown, where, in a niche of this wall, a Holy 
Virgin is placed after the old Catholic custom,' 
and a resting-place offered, and the prospect of 
the other world is allegorically represented by 
one of the finest views on earth looking toward 
the evanescent hills melting in pale blue distance. 

On the plateau behind these various town build- 
ings and as though belonging to them, the race- 
course is situated, to which I shall return later. 

This whole long chain of hills, as I have 
already said, presents analogous conditions and 
constitutes the only view toward the west from 
the old as well as the new and now inhabited 
castle. 

After the little town had been built on the 
river, under the protection of the feudal owners, 
the times, as they became more peaceable and 
easy, permitted the stern lords on the heights to 
leave the comfortless castle and settle in more 
companionable surroundings ; at least, the so- 
called old castle was as a fact built in the fourteenth 
century in the valley, and now serves as a court- 
house for the magistrates. Its characteristics have 
been carefully preserved, only its gables and old 
armor have been restored and the statue of the 
ancestor of our family, famous in the "Nibel- 

* This figure of the Virgin is a very remarkable statue, found not 
long ago, carved in petrified wood. It is attributed to the thirteenth or 
fourteenth century. 



The Park in Muskau 



137 



ungenlied," Rudigen von Bechlarn, has been 
added.' 

As the open space before this building serves 
as 2i point de vue for a street of the town and the 
chief way to the park is at this entrance, the 
equestrian statue of the old Magyar will be found 
here, the best site for it. 

At a later epoch my ancestors built, only a hun- 
dred paces from the first castle, another one with 
a much more agreeable exterior, connected with 
the first by fortifications and moats suitable to 
their enlarged property and more exalted rank 
(they had just been elevated to the rank of 
"Reichsgrafen"). An Italian architect built it 
as well as a so-called "garden palace" at the 
same distance on the other side, which was used 
later on as a theater, and made half as large again 
but deformed in the most tasteless manner in the 
process. 

One can see from the plan how 1 converted 

' It is true, I may say in passing, that in some genealogical works 
doubt has been thrown on this genealogy of our family, but although it 
has not been proved historically correct, it has been made highly prob- 
able by some attested copies from ancient original documents, which 
latter were unfortunately lost in a great fire at Schedlau in the beginning ' 
of the sixteenth century, as well as by the identity of the name (as our 
family name was written "Pechlarn " as late as the fifteenth century), 
and lastly, by the similarity of the arms, as is proved by the monument 
of Pellegrin, Bishop of Passau, a descendant of Budiger in the ninth cen- 
tury, where the separate limbs of an eagle in four fields (quarterings) 
are to be seen as in our arms of the present day. The formerly direct 
branch of my family, the Grafen Piickler Limpurg auf Farrenbach, are 
said to possess interesting information on the subject, which I hereby 
invite them to disclose; for who can blame us for setting at a high value 
the imperishable heroic stories of Germany, even if we only have prob- 
ability on our side ? 



138 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

the old moats into a lake and stream by a canal 
leading from the river Neisse, the latter sur- 
rounding three sides of the new castle and divid- 
ing it from the older quarter and from the theater. 
According to my plans, to which my talented 
friend Schinkel has certainly given the most de- 
lightful form, the old castle in future will be con- 
nected with the new by a high arched bridge, the 
theater on the other side by a gallery, crossing 
the water in a higher arch, the whole improve- 
ment making a worthier residence in a further 
extension of more than five hundred paces. 

When we turn back for a moment to contem- 
plate past centuries, we retrace the growing 
development of industry and culture, which no 
longer permitted the nobleman to be now a 
pleasure-seeker and then, when the chance came, 
a robber, but summoned him as well to engage 
himself in industrial life. In consequence there 
arose on the river buildings devoted to economic 
purposes, — mills, breweries, distilleries, etc., — 
which still show the old-fashioned, irregular style 
with gables, projecting stories, and small win- 
dows. Later the ground itself was explored, and 
the alum works founded, which showed in the 
architecture a less old-fashioned, more industrial 
character. A vineyard closes the category of these 
older ventures, whose product, however, is not to 
be recommended. It seems either that our an- 
cestors were satisfied with their poor wine, or that 
the climate was warmer than at the present time, 
for who would think at this date that the neigh- 



The Park in Muskau 139 

borhood of Berlin, which in regard to beverages 
can only boast of Weiss beer, formerly was a wine 
country as is proved by the Berlin calendar? 

In recent times, finally, when all the different 
interests of the people have been more and more 
amalgamated by the spread of education, — this 
period marks the beginning of my modest work, 
— a feeling for art and beauty at last began to 
awaken in these regions, formerly overlooked 
in the general march of culture. The leading 
thought was to reflect the past in one congruous 
picture, whereby everything which was still in 
existence should be again emphasized, improved 
as far as its purposes allowed, and embellished 
and combined anew in a well-arranged whole. A 
new source of income was found in the long 
known, but never exploited, mineral waters which 
rise near the mines, as well as the strong sulphur 
springs in most productive meadows in neighbor- 
ing valleys, which had been doubtless running 
for centuries past and wasted in the dust of de- 
cayed forests. By means of a hydropathic estab- 
lishment, well furnished with all requisites, it was 
sought to benefit also the suflTering of humanity. 

Other undertakings were started, some with- 
in the precincts of the castle, some elsewhere ; 
namely, a wax bleachery, a fisherman's cottage, 
and some colonies of cottages in the vicinity of 
the village of Kobeln, near the alum works, and on 
the Braunsdorf plain, each grouped as a whole and 
arranged throughout as free dwellings for garden 
hands, miners, and the needy ; further, an observ- 



140 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

atory and extensive cottage ornee, called " the Eng- 
lish House," which serves as a Sunday recreation 
ground for the town and suburbs. As a coping- 
stone to the whole, as a monument of a work 
which contended with such innumerable difficul- 
ties, I have projected the erection of a temple on 
an isolated hill in the center of a park and on the 
shore of a stream, dedicated to " Perseverance," 
for further mention of which I refer the reader 
to the "First Carriage Drive." 

This, then, was in the main the task which I 
had set myself. How I carried it out, in so far as 
it is carried out and in so far as this book has ex- 
plained the remainder, I must leave to the judg- 
ment of experts ; at least the attempt has been 
harmless, well intentioned, and not without some 
artistic endeavor. 

The park of Muskau may now be described 
by districts, as follows, which at the same time 
enumerate the various epochs with some ac- 
curacy. 

I. The " Burg" domain on the farther shore of 
the Neisse to which belong: — 

A. The "Burg" itself with its surroundings. 

B. The cemetery chapel. 

C. The race-course. 

D. The stud. 

E. The manor house with the sheep farm. 
II. The town and its precincts. 

III. The castle domain : — 

A. The old castle, mill, farmhouses, etc. 

B. The new castle with its "pleasure-ground." 

C. The orangeries and gardens. 



The Park in Muskau 141 

D. The inn. 

E. The pheasantry. 

F. The fisherman's hut with its surroundings. 

G. The temple. 
IV. The vineyard. 

V. The mine with its colonies. 
VI. The baths. 
VII. The observatory. 
VIII. The village, to which belong: — 

A. The English house. 

B. The Gobelin colony. 

In order to proceed to the more detailed de- 
scription of these districts, the most practical 
way will be to follow the same course as would 
be taken by a stranger in his visits, and therefore 
I beg the reader to consult the plan in Plate B. 

I must first remark, however, that besides the 
classification which I have just completed and 
which I would call the "aesthetic" part, another 
more general classification would be advisable, 
for the sake of locality, convenience, and review 
of the whole. Accordingly the whole would fall 
under three heads only, in which each would be 
dealt with as it is limited by situation ; namely, 
the castle park, the park of the baths, and the 
outer park. Each of these presents space and 
room enough for a walk. The first is bounded 
partly by a high wood fence, which is nowhere 
visible, with broad plantations, partly by the 
Neisse ; the second is also bounded partly by a 
similar fence toward the town, and partly by deep 
ditches and broad blackthorn thickets. The third 
is bounded throughout by dikes with acacia 



142 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

thorn and gleditschia thickets, twelve feet broad, 
totally impenetrable to man or beast, and con- 
tented with the poorest soil. The hares, which 
are very plentiful in our part of the world, dam- 
age them considerably during hard winters, but 
as they must be partly cut down every three years 
to renew their density, the damage is seldom of 
great proportions. 

I will assume that one has started from the 
castle and is taking a walk to the flower gardens 
and a part of the " pleasure-ground," to which 
leads no drive. Following the arrow that starts 
from the wide steps of the court of the castle 
[a J on the ground-plan C and B)' is an arrange- 
ment for orangery and flowers with light arcades, 
and above it, rising from large vases, drooping 
passion flowers. Between the arches are hanging 
bars, on which many-colored parrots swing, with- 
out being able to incommode one by their too 
great proximity. The orangery makes a shady 
and fragrant walk on the terrace, extends around 
the court, and is surrounded with flower stands 
in which niches are placed, serving as an occa- 
sional salon and affording views of the park. 
The terraces are connected with the drawing- 
rooms by glass doors. 

On the opposite side of these rooms, toward 
the south, a conservatory is thrown out, running 
along the wing of the castle, the windows of 

' I have had copied, for the better comprehension of the reader, a 
part of the gardens on a larger scale, as far as the footpaths go, and 
marked them with the same letters. (See Plate C. ) 



The Park in Muskau 143 



which are taken out in summer, which at all 
times of the year makes a flower walk. The 
rooms have a lookout on this promenade 
through gilded lattices, immediately under the 
windows, and two steps at the sides give access 
to it. 

The first flower garden starts in front of this 
conservatory and is bounded by the lake Lucie, 
with the hills beyond. 

It surrounds the whole square of the castle 
and has a communication under the castle terrace 
by a tunnel, walled with golden-colored sulphur 
pyrites and blue slags. 

In the laying-out of these gardens I have al- 
lowed my fancy free play and have combined 
regularity with irregularity fearlessly, but I hope, 
nevertheless, not to have disturbed the harmony 
of the whole. On the ground-plan, no doubt, 
there may be a singular appearance in the fan- 
shape ; the " H " set in a star ; the square shaped 
like the breastplate of the Jewish high priest; 
the cornucopia ; the colossal flower made up of 
various plants ; an " S " of roses and forget-me- 
nots ; the peacocks' feathers, etc. As a matter of 
fact, the effect is rather rich and original, and 
not more heterogeneous than the bazaar effect 
is usually in the room of an elegant lady. The 
sketch in Plate XII gives a part of the appear- 
ance presented by these features seen from the 
balcony of the tower. Two busts can be seen 
there in front of a flower stand. They are those 
of two women, who of all those I have met 



144 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

on my life's journey seemed to me the most 
lovely/ 

The slightly higher ground under three old 
limes [c)y surrounded by the greatest wealth of 
flowers, is also the central point of the flower 
gardens, whence a view opens on the lake, the 
adjoining " pleasure-ground," and the terrace gar- 
dens of the town opposite, with the village of 
Berg above. The water laps the foot of the steep 
stone wall, on which there is room for a fairly 
large company. In the evening this Platz is 
lighted by bright-colored lanterns. 

Farther on is the rosary, a rosette made up of 
monthly roses and box and surrounded by pome- 
granate trees. The rosary is joined to the con- 
servatory just mentioned, in which a roomy niche 
surrounded by flower stands can be used as an- 
other place for company. Here the shrubbery 
which surrounds it on all sides allows a view of 
the water only, under the shelter of large-leaved 
planes. (See Plate XIH.) On one side of this 
feature lies the tulip room in the shade of which 
are planted carnations. A stone step leads from 
here down to the water to some light gondolas, 
in which the votaries of rowing, the favorite 
pastime in these days, may disport themselves, 
without fear of storm and shipwreck. 

Continuing on our path we come to an open 
platform at the tower. A bower of jessamine and 

' As recognition of beauty is not offensive, and rank and wealth are 
as nothing in its realm, I will name them for the enlightenment of the 
curious: the one is the Grafin Alopaus; the other the Grafin Rossi. 



The Park in Muskau 145 



roses leans against the tower under the upper bal- 
cony. From this one has a view of the lake in a 
new direction and in its greatest length, where 
two bridges and a waterfall serve as an excellent 
point de vue. From this point the walk continues 
through the shrubbery for a time, after which 
one comes to an ornamental plot with the letter 
" S," an aviary, farther a flower parterre, imitat- 
ing a bundle of colossal peacocks' feathers, then 
a flower stand with hothouse plants, till the tun- 
nel mentioned above [d) is reached. A fountain 
here makes a spot which is always cool and re- 
freshing in hot summer days, peaceful and soli- 
tary, where one may, as the saying goes, give 
audience to one's thoughts, or, in more prosaic 
phrase, enjoy a siesta, to which a soft couch of 
moss and never broken twilight invite one. 

I may be allowed to make a digression here 
and take the opportunity to lay down some rules 
for flower plantations and the like. 

I have unfortunately to contend with an un- 
favorable climate in the Neisse Valley, and can 
only rely on half-hardy shrubs with the help of 
careful covering to prevent freezing, such as some 
of the cytisus, calicanthus, cercis, amygdalus, 
hibiscus, hydrangea, rhododendron, comptonia, 
etc., while the still more delicate ones, like liq- 
uidamber, magnolia, azalea, etc., and even the 
Prunus lusitanicdy so hardy in England, Pyrus 
japonicdy arbutus, viburnum, ilex varieties and 
some of the andromedas, etc., must be protected 
every winter in portable houses. I therefore give 



146 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

the hardier kinds, although they are more com- 
mon, the preference, since one should refrain as 
far as possible from trying to force Nature too 
much or too often; for even a quite common 
red thorn, for instance, if it is in vigorous bloom, 
or a bush honeysuckle, etc., has a better appear- 
ance than a suffering exotic growth, which in a 
more suitable climate might possibly have un- 
folded in its fullest splendor. In general the 
chief decoration is made by potted plants, which 
are so arranged in permanent stands that they do 
not injure the lawn nor let the pots and tubs 
show in an unsightly manner. For instance, the 
oleanders surrounding a semicircular bank were 
placed in long semicircular boxes and lowered 
into a trench of masonry work built behind 
the bank, and as the branches reach down to the 
ground they appear to be growing out of it. 
Single pomegranate and other trees are enclosed 
in pretty stands made to fit them exactly, and 
surrounded with flower pots in such a way that 
the tub containing the tree is not to be seen and 
only its crown rises from the midst. Should 
one desire, however, that an isolated stem remain 
visible, then the tub as well may be inserted in 
a walled funnel and the top covered with pots 
with low flowers set in green moss. If these 
half-hardy plants have to be removed in late 
autumn, then they must be replaced by hardier 
kinds, or by baskets with potted flowers which 
are not afraid of a little frost, like asters, etc. 
The walled openings in the earth must be wide 



The Park in Muskau 147 

enough to allow plenty of air to reach the tubs, 
and the tubs too must be set only halfway in 
the earth. 

I have already said that on the whole masses 
of congenial colors are to be preferred to the 
mixture of many kinds. But so far as concerns 
the sequence of the flowers, not to be too dis- 
cursive, I will only give the example of the way 
I have treated the specimens I have mentioned, 
the fan (e), the star with the "H" (/), the 
quadruple square (^), in the blue flower garden, 
and the cornucopia (/6). 

The fan (e) comes first into bloom with yel- 
low crocus. Then it is planted with gillyflower 
so that they make rings of various colors all over 
it, with a dark point in the middle, from which 
the shadings are graduated to the circumfer- 
ence. 

The same device is lastly devoted to Aster 
chinensis^ which blossoms right into autumn, 
when our stay in the country is at an end as a 
rule. Generally only lovers of hunting are left 
behind, who demand no flowers ; only the hares. 
The two round baskets next the fan are planted 
first with dark double golden wallflowers and 
later with Lobelia cardinalis. 

The star opposite the fan begins with double 
tulips ; after these come bright red pelagoniums 
planted from pots, which also last till autumn. 
Four baskets surround this device also, which 
begins with bright-colored mixed single tulips, 
but for second flowering have two with £//- 



148 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

chrysiim bracteatum surrounded by Verbenia auble- 
tiay and two with Heliotropium peruvianum. The 
square g (in the blue flower garden) begins with 
double hyacinths, which are arranged in the 
four compartments shaded in four colors and 
planted as close as possible. Then follow, but 
in a different arrangement, Gomphrena globosa in 
three colors; h^ the cornucopia has a yellow 
tip, which is made up throughout the year with 
flowers of Miinulus guttatus, which must be put 
in at various times in order to last till late au- 
tumn. Its other sections are variegated in color 
by Silene bipartita, Viola grandiflora, and Lobelia 
ericoides. But the mouth where the cornucopia 
pours out a great mass of flowers is filled through- 
out the summer with all sorts of bright flowers 
in pots embedded in moss and some pumpkins 
placed among them, to make the contours of the 
outpour as indistinguishable as possible. 

All figures of this complicated kind are as a 
rule bordered with boxwood outlining their 
form more clearly and firmly, which flower bor- 
ders can never do with such precision. But 
with single beds of regular, simple shape, such 
as circles, ovals, squares, unless wicker edging is 
preferred, I make use of any of the low flowers 
which serve the purpose of bordering. Such a 
border, however, must never be used around 
shrubs irregular in contour, which would thus 
give a stiff appearance. 

For climbing plants various trellises are made 
of strong wire, which in themselves are quite 



The Park in Muskau 149 

pretty things, and which allow the plants to 
cling freely on all sides. In England one can find 
them ready-made and of neat workmanship, 
whether as gates, arches, overhead trellis, broken 
pillars, or little obelisks; here, however, they 
must be made by capable smiths from drawings. 

Among other effects a very pretty one is 
Glycine sinensis trained on an overhead shelter 
like an umbrella, when its thick blue clusters 
of flowers show through the wire interstices. 
(See Plate XIV, i ; and the arch 2, for an orna- 
mental entrance planted with Cobea scandens; 
and 3, the gilt aureole glory (Vergoldeten Glorie), 
on which various kinds of clematis are climbing; 
or 4, the blue basket with gilt tips crowned with 
red Bignonia radicans; 5 is a flower basket whose 
edge is made of leaves made of tiles.) The 
leaves are furnished underneath with long spikes 
which fix them in the earth, and so can with 
little trouble be put in and taken out one by 
one. It is a cheap, durable, and at the same time 
very ornate, border. 

We now return, with the reader's permission 
(whose patience I hope I have not exhausted), 
to our promenade, and we ascend the steps (/) 
which lead to the great castle landing where we 
must linger awhile. One can see on the plan 
that a flight of steps forty feet wide starts from 
the landing, and leads by fifteen steps of granite 
to the lawn of the bowling green before the 
castle. In front of the steps are four flower beds, 
and a little farther on a resting-place at a colos- 



150 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

sal Ariadne lying on her pedestal, surrounded by 
rose trees supported by gilt stakes. Beyond this 
ornamental foreground may be seen the moun- 
tains in the distance, with the "Burg" pre- 
cincts. The river cannot be seen from this spot, 
as it is hidden by the dams, nor was a water 
view desirable here, since it may be had on three 
other sides of the castle. The middle distance 
thus unfolds merely a wide green flat extending 
from the castle to the iron fence which divides 
the " pleasure-ground " from the park. This 
fence is adorned with blooming shrubs and some 
masses of flowers. After this only meadows 
grazed by sheep and cows are to be seen, and 
also groups of tall trees, under whose foliage the 
mountains and buildings crowning them seem 
to retreat to a greater distance than is really the 
case. The second middle distance is formed by 
the row of hills on the other side of the river, 
with its plateau and large clumps of bushes scat- 
tered over them. This view, which was formerly 
entirely hidden by an avenue of tall limes that 
I opened out, is already familiar to the reader 
from Plate II. The cutting of the avenue was 
undertaken by me with such precaution that I 
invited the younger Repton from England merely 
for the purpose of consulting him on this im- 
portant point. Mr. Aday Repton is, however, 
more of an architect than a landscape artist, and 
apart from the fact that he confirmed me in my 
plan by his authority, I must confess that (partly 
on the grounds I have given on page 16) he 



The Park in Muskau 151 

could be of little service. But I must accord 
him all praise for the readiness, I may say the 
heartiness, with which he, contrary to English 
habits, bestrode my hobby-horse with me. A 
very well-recommended English gardener, whom 
I had also written for, showed himself very serv- 
iceable in technical matters, but in matters of 
taste too much a slave of custom, as soon as one 
left him, if only for a moment, to his own de- 
vices. Among other things I could not make him 
understand that groups need not always be planted 
more or less en quinquonce. He maintained that 
in England this shape is considered the best 
(wherein no doubt he was right), and there he 
stuck. Besides this, the fact that they lack ade- 
quate knowledge of our language always remains 
with such people a great hindrance ; therefore, I 
soon found myself obliged to send him back, 
which I mention in order to keep others from 
making the same mistake. 

Much better service was rendered me by the 
inexhaustible pains and capable adaptation of 
my plans by my German head gardener Rehder, 
a member of the Prussian Society of Gardeners. 
Certainly not a little was contributed by him to 
the conquest of many difficulties, among which 
the unfavorable climate of North Germany stands 
first, which, especially in our cold region, makes 
the gardener's a truly difficult calling. I make 
this remark because many gardeners spoil the 
best instructions because of their self-conceit, so 
typical of the German middle classes. The bet- 



152 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

ter they have been grounded in their specialty, 
and naturally, therefore, the more competent they 
are technically than their masters, the more are 
they inclined to assume as well their superiority 
in aesthetic questions, and thus spoil everything 
by thinking to do everything better, instead of 
energetically supporting and furthering the suc- 
cess of the artistic ideas of others by means of 
their technical science. An adaptable, patient, 
and at the same time clever, practical man is not 
at all so easy to find as one may think, and it 
would be a good thing if particular stress were 
laid on these requirements of education in our 
new schools for gardeners. Young men who 
from the beginning think too much of them- 
selves and want to be too important are of no 
use; and I would say, half in jest and half in 
earnest, a gardener to my taste must have more 
of the character of the good Wagner in him 
than of the restless Faust, and very rarely kick 
against the things of this world, least of all 
against patience, and especially obedience. 

The flight of steps, where we last paused, is 
also built after Schinkel's drawing. From both 
sides of the landing-stage extends a series of steps 
ten feet wide alongside of the building, where 
orange trees are set, and between these on each 
step are iron pillars surmounted with lanterns. 
Festoons connect these pillars and at the same 
time give the trees the very necessary support 
which their exposed situation requires. On fes- 
tive occasions, moreover, they serve for stringing 




H 



O 



6 o 



CQ 



u 



> 
> 



The Park in Muskau 153 

lamps upon, which make a very charming effect 
in the foHage of the orange trees. Iron chains 
separate the trees from the road. Plate XV gives 
the aspect of the flight and the castle view from 
the bowling green. 

Descending the flight of steps from the left, 
we now come into a shrubbery, where an orna- 
mented grate leads to the second flower garden, 
of quite a different character. To distinguish it 
from the other it is called the " blue garden," 
because it is enclosed with steel-blue halberds 
and chains, and all edgings, bridges, benches, 
etc. (made of iron throughout), are painted sky- 
blue and white. 

The newly dug arm of the Neisse flows 
through the middle of these grounds, which are 
terminated on one side by thick woods, on the 
other bv a tall avenue of limes, between whose 
branches only a few narrow views have been 
arranged, in order not to encroach on the char- 
acter of secrecy and seclusion, which is my chief 
aim here. The former outlook on the " Burg " 
precincts is altogether hidden here, but one fol- 
lows the continuation of the same chain of hills 
covered with a wide wood, from which the 
salient points are a few primeval oaks on the 
highest hilltops. 

Not far from the entrance on an eminence 
stands a bench surrounded with flowers [k) with 
a view between the linden branches of the hill, 
in the middle of the landscape, on which the 
temple of Perseverance is to stand. Its summit 



154 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

is provisionally crowned only by a terrace and 
pavilion. At the side under the bench mentioned 
is a very thick and shady grove of limes near the 
water (/), and here a small boat is stationed for 
quicker communication with the avenue oppo- 
site. A gleaming colored lantern of peculiar 
construction, which forms the center of a broken 
iron hoop, marks this point at night at a long 
distance off. 

Behind the grove, through a wire arch into 
the third garden, called the " Herrengarten," 
the path leads as far as the river, which serves 
as its boundary on this side. Soon afterwards we 
come to an airy resting-place like a kind of 
temple [m) whose thin iron pillars serve as sup- 
ports for various kinds of clematis. The view be- 
tween them opens to the west and north. In the 
first direction one can see the town and one of 
the farms on the height; in the other, one fol- 
lows the bend of the river in the valley, and 
various parts of the forest on its shores, not 
hitherto visible. (See Table XVI.) At the side 
stands another bench among flowers on the 
lawn, made of tree-trunks turned upside down 
so that the roots form a crown. These inter- 
woven roots are richly embellished with clema- 
tis, mosses, and flowers in pots, and present an 
original appearance, far removed from the com- 
monplace. The last resting-place is under four 
oaks near a waterfall [n) where the river plunges 
over a smooth wall of broad stones in full tor- 
rent, natural-looking and unbroken by any ob- 



The Park in Muskau 155 

stacle. From here one returns to the castle in a 
diagonal direction to the exit through masses of 
shrubbery and flower beds, mingled with various 
decorations over the grassy carpet. A visit to 
the stables, the race-course, and the theater (0), 
which one passes on one's return, may termi- 
nate the walk for those who are interested in such 
things. 

So as not to become tedious, I must pass over 
the numerous promenades in the closed *' pleas- 
ure-ground," as well as in the open park; so I 
offer the obliging reader a seat in the garden 
wagon (called "Ligne," on which several per- 
sons can be seated and look around on all sides) 
for the 

FIRST CARRIAGE DRIVE 

As it begins from the castle, one cannot any 
longer follow the historic arrangement which I 
gave the park previously, but must choose the 
second, which allows more freedom, and as the 
first view has left a good idea of the estate as a 
whole, one may now be free to enjoy a pleasant 
change. But if one would like to proceed quite 
systematically, he could also look over the park 
more especially along the footpaths according to 
the divisions suggested by the fundamental idea; 
the park also may be visited, which carries out 
the same main idea. 

So, beginning from the castle, we will first visit 
(following the arrow) the orange houses (p on 
the ground-plan B ; for the whole establissement 



156 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

see the ground-plan D). From the salon in the 
middle of the first orangery (i) looking beyond 
a large bed of rhododendrons, we have a view 
of an avenue of limes a hundred years old, about 
a thousand paces long, and in winter, on both 
sides of the salon, there are also two avenues of 
orange trees to be seen, which will be termi- 
nated by palm houses. From here one passes (2), 
through a flower house in the form of a gallery, 
into the hothouses. From this gallery we see on 
the left the winter garden (3), and on the right 
a landscape, not without charm, even in winter, 
of which the features are the lake Lucie, the 
town, and the mountains rising beyond. Next 
we enter the hothouses (4), in front of which is 
the flower nursery surrounded by trellis walls (5), 
at the side the large kitchen garden (6), then 
the hotbeds (7), the garden courtyard, the gar- 
den inspector's house (8), and the second orange 
house (9), as well as the concealed places (10 
and 11), where everything is kept, which, al- 
though useful and necessary, presents nothing 
agreeable to the eye. All the sheds and out- 
houses, etc., are collected here, and finally a large 
space (12) at the end of the garden, near the 
stables of the garden horses, which is used solely 
for the compost heaps. This arrangement makes 
it possible to keep the vegetable garden itself 
always clean and elegant, and to use the shelter 
of its walls for a sunny promenade. After inspec- 
tion of these features we pass the *' pleasure- 
ground," close behind the house, and drive 



^^^3t, -' ''i? /zV,*Jf«- 0^-?; 







!S,W*^ 



»C*' -^ 






,1! 







A View ot the River as Arranged and Improved by Prince Piickler in his 

Park at Muskau 



Redrawn from an Old Print 




Photograph by Thomas W. Sears 
A Rough Stone Bridge in the Park o?" Muskau 



The Park in Muskau 157 

through an open grove of trees on the lawn to 
the meadow flats which lie between the castle 
and the Neisse, and which open several views 
toward the castle region as well as toward chains 
of hills. The most favorable points are always 
marked by simple stone seats on the road. 

In a little time we reach a small wood near 
the river, follow this for a time, and on passing 
out of the wood we cross, by a rustic stone bridge 
with a rough stone weir, over the newly chan- 
neled arm of the Neisse not far from its junction 
with the main stream, and then, turning back, 
we climb the western side of the Neisse Valley. 

On reaching the top (^, Plan B) we see be- 
low, bordering on an oak grove, a lake of con- 
siderable area with some wooded islands and a 
magnificent forest prospect with the mountains 
in the background. At the side down below 
stands a fisherman's hut on a projecting tongue 
of land, around which all kinds of nets spread 
out and other utensils for fishing invite the vota- 
ries of this sport to a rich harvest. Near it we 
see, partly hidden by bushes, some wax-bleaching 
grounds, connected with a watchman's house and 
an ice cellar. From here, for those who like a 
promenade on foot, there leads a narrow path 
into thick bushes along the steep shore of the 
Neisse to a convenient bathing-place, a resting- 
place on the height with various picturesque 
views toward the wooded shore of the river, and 
then, continuing to the bridge over the Neisse 
at Kobeln, on the border of the park (r), from 



158 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

whence we can return to the castle on the other 
side of the river, passing the EngUsh house, or 
any other favorite spot by sequestered and shady 
footpaths. 

We will follow meanwhile the drive, and 
reach, after a short distance a side of the "pleas- 
ure-ground " new to us, at the entrance of which 
a gayly colored Gloriettey executed from a draw- 
ing by Herr Geheimrath Schinkel, looks down 
from its mound of bloom into the valley (j-). 
This side is closed toward the road, but presents 
toward the interior of the park four separate 
bays, which frame in each one a separate picture. 
The first to the left is that mentioned on pages 
41-42, which I quote as an example of the way 
in which unity could be combined with variety 
(N. B. of the same kind). (See Plate XVII.) 
The second embraces a wide stretch of meadow, 
with groups of tall trees, the Neisse with its 
tributaries in the middle, and hills covered with 
foliage behind, without the break of any habita- 
tion. (See Plate XVIII.) The third bay shows 
in the distance, about a quarter of an hour's walk 
from the castle, a side view of a portion of the 
town with the German church emerging from 
the trees, and in the farther distance on the hori- 
zon the village of Lucknitz (/) standing out 
against a darkly wooded hill. (See Plate XIX.) 
Finally, the last bay frames in the ruins of the 
old Catholic church (u) of the village of Berg, 
flanked by two tall lime trees. 

We will drive now within the " pleasure- 




h 



> 



> 

X 



PlH 




o 



> 



X 

I— ( 

X 



The Park in Muskau 159 

ground," which is everywhere divided from the 
park by a rail fence to keep off the grazing cat- 
tle as well as to distinguish quite clearly the 
limit which should divide art and nature, and 
proceed under a grove of foreign woods and 
bushes, and then gradually descend into the val- 
ley, getting a near view of the castle from the 
west, turn left to the old castle, passing the Platz 
with the equestrian statue of the Nibelungen 
hero, and arrive, turning sharply east, at a bridge, 
from one side of which both castles are seen mir- 
rored in the water, and (Plate XX) from the 
other [v) a waterfall, made of colossal granite 
stones, of which plenty are to be found in this 
region. The waterfall was constructed as I have 
indicated, so that it by no means is intended to 
represent a bed of rock, which is not natural in 
these parts, but rather to look as if the river in 
some flood had rolled the stones here, and, find- 
ing an obstruction, had merely heaped them up 
to an unusual extent. Therefore, several blocks 
are scattered in front and as many behind the 
waterfall, to bring about the natural effect, but 
the sides are clothed with overhanging bushes 
and water plants, and herbaceous plants and pots 
of flowers, packed in moss, are scattered between 
the stones so that they seem to grow out of the 
rockery and enhance the rich and natural effect 
of the whole. A view of it has already been 
given. 

Behind the waterfall we leave the " pleasure- 
ground " and continue on the meadow level of 



i6o Hints on Landscape Gardening 

the park, along the arm of the river as far as the 
Lock, where the branch has been led off from 
the main stream. Here a weir has been built, to 
keep the mass of water which is to be let into 
the newly dug channel always under control. 
Near the weir a bridge crosses to the opposite 
shore. From this point the road rises gently up 
the eastern bank on the right of the Neisse in 
the woods, as far as the pheasantry [w)y which 
is not yet completed. I have projected it in an 
uncommon form, after the model of a Turkish 
country house, for which I must thank Herr 
Rittmeister von Moliere, who copied it during 
the Russo-Turkish campaign. It will be roofed 
with bright glazed tiles, and besides the neces- 
sary dwelling-houses for the keeper and his fam- 
ily, will be furnished with a salon, which is quite 
separated from the rest of the building. From 
here one steps out on to a terrace [x) where, 
looking under a few acacias, the whole pheas- 
antry is seen spread out, while above it, through 
a wide gap in the foliage, one may descry the 
river, the post-bridge on the highway toward 
Sorau, the baths, and the alum and refining works 
in the distance. (See Plate XXL) A walk in the 
fenced-in pheasantry is not without interest, as 
gold, silver, and black and white pheasants are 
kept here, and in the green square with a pavil- 
ion in its center one can conveniently watch the 
feeding of the pheasants and the hundreds of 
birds gathering in an instant at the call of the 
keeper, and their comical excitement as they dis- 




oi 



X 



The Park in Muskau i6i 

pute for the grains of wheat, quite fearless of 
human beings. 

This last section, which is not visible on the 
plate, I have tried to plant entirely with ever- 
greens to give it a charming appearance in win- 
ter as well as summer, and to act as a background 
for the many colors of the birds. 

Connected with the pheasantry, but outside 
of its fence, I have built a small dairy for Swiss 
cows which are kept here in the neighborhood 
for the convenience of the castle. At a short dis- 
tance a high chain bridge crosses over a deep 
ravine eighty feet wide, and an extended view 
over the northwest Neisse Valley opens suddenly 
on the other side under an ancient oak. In the 
foreground on the slope of the hill is the dairy (y) 
arranged in English style, in which milk foods of 
all kinds can be kept and prepared and eaten on 
the spot in a cool and elegant house, a refresh- 
ment which is very welcome after the long walk. 

As many people, perhaps, have no exact con- 
ception of what a "dairy" is, I will describe one 
in a very few words: It is a simple pavilion with 
a basin of water in the middle, in which the milk 
pans float. All around you find tables and chairs 
ready for use. The windows are generally pro- 
vided with colored glass, and various milk prep- 
arations stand in china and porcelain dishes on 
tables, arranged with tasteful symmetry. Some 
beds of sweet-scented but not conspicuous flow- 
ers, like violets, mignonette, etc., surround the 
dairy outside. 



i62 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

The next item to attract our attention in con- 
tinuing our drive is the temple of Perseverance 
(z) to which also an exceptionally /onefy path 
leads from the dairy in thickets of beech so dense 
that the sun has only room to gild the green 
dome of leaves. A mountain stream trickles 
through this wood and parts, near a rough bridge 
of oak-trunks, in the most hidden corner of the 
bushes, into several little waterfalls, which have 
been managed by heaping up very large stones 
collected for the purpose. Many of these small 
footpaths in the park are named after ladies who 
suggested them, and the inscription shows these 
names on a stone at the beginning of the path, 
which is useful at the same time for the guidance 
of the visitor. 

One can arrive at the temple by the drive or 
the footpath ; in either case one will first be 
aware of it only on arrival at the spot. A little 
wood of oak conceals it until that moment, and 
the roads are purposely laid out for this effect of 
surprise. The moment one enters this temple the 
view unfolds between single standing pillars of 
Silesian marble set on a granite base, and covered 
with a gilded iron roof, crowned by an eagle 
with wings outspread.^ From the seat at the back 
wall of the temple one has a wide view, which 
is composed of the course of the stream on the 
right, as it gradually disappears in the wood, in 

' To avoid all misunderstanding, I repeat that, in order not to break 
the thread of my description at every moment, much which is only pro- 
posed has to be described as though already complete. 



164 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

We now proceed, without any distant views in 
the woods, first on the heights, then descending 
under a small bridge (see Plate XXV) made of 
oak branches with the bark left on, and continu- 
ing toward the river, along which we go for a 
little while, then crossing a broad meadow called 
the " Erlwiese " (formerly a bottomless morass) 
and dedicated to the " Erlkonig," and ascending 
the height once more, we see at the last bend of 
the road the English house [aa) which, in con- 
trast with the temple scene, presents the charac- 
teristics of gay rural social life. A " cottage " in 
the foreground, overgrown with roses and Vir- 
ginia creeper, contains some rooms reserved for 
the *' Herrschaft." On the left in the shade we 
can see between the branches a covered bowling 
alley; a grass plot, with three arbor-like seats 
near by for those who wish to enjoy Nature and 
the open air. In the central arbor are placed pier 
glasses which reproduce the most attractive points 
of the surrounding landscape. 

A second "cottage " adjacent serves as a dwell- 
ing for the cafe keeper, and as shelter for guests 
in unfavorable weather. On the other side is seen 
a pavilion, which contains a small ballroom and 
two rooms for games. Farther on a bird pole and 
targets have been set up for marksmen, besides 
a range for pistol shooting, the same thing seen 
in Paris at Lepages ; also in Pyrmont and other 
places. 

On a hill opposite stands an isolated salon in 
the bushes, built of rough logs of bark, which is 



The Park in Muskau 163 

front of the broad side of the castle with its or- 
namental flight of steps, and on the left the mill, 
the dam, and the foaming, roaring waterfall. (Sec 
Plate XXII.) 

The temple is to be ^dorned with nothing but 
a bronze bust standing in the center. I have used 
the bust of our King Frederick William III, 
because he is a monarch who in every respect 
shines forth as a model of Perseverance of our 
times, the virtue to which the temple is dedi- 
cated. A cornucopia, hanging down from above, 
symbolically pours its treasures over him, but in 
the evening it will light up with a ray of glory 
the head so dearly beloved. (See Plate XXIII.) 
A formal flower garden protected by an iron 
palisade ends at the steps, not without signifi- 
cance — for perseverance in good and right pre- 
pares for our lives a bed of flowers, even though 
they only bloom within our souls. 

We drive now over a second bridge over a 
ravine, which I have named "Prince" bridge.' 

' The giving of this name is in token of one of the most agreeable 
happenings in our region. I speak of the presence in Muskau of His 
Royal Highness the Crown Prince and his Consort. When I had the 
good fortune of escorting their Royal Highnesses, the Crown Prince, 
a fine connoisseur, made the very judicious remark that a bridge at the 
end of a waterless ravine which it crosses has never a good appearance, 
and hence should be more concealed than shown. I had felt this blem- 
ish myself, but had no facilities for altering it, as the road, for other 
reasons, could not be changed. His Royal Highness then gave me the 
advice to face the whole side of the wooden bridge with a trellis of 
young oak staves in the form of an arch and to have it overgrown with 
Virginia creeper, beneath which the ravine would be seen in the depths 
as though under a natural grotto. This gracious advice was followed, 
and the effect not only did away with a blemish, but substituted for it a 
considerable improvement. (See Plate XXIV.) 




OQ 



h 



X 

x: 




CQ 



The Park in Muskau 165 

also reserved for the Herrschaft, and from which 
the whole tableau of the crowd enjoying them- 
selves below may be viewed just as one may 
choose without coming into closer contact. The 
village of Kobeln on the outskirts ot the park 
spreads out behind this animated foreground, and 
remains in harmony with the character of the 
whole. In the middle of the village a small bell- 
tower was erected, to announce daily the approach 
of dusk. The lovers of the idyllic can now with 
delight watch the shepherds driving their flocks 
home over the plain, and the laborers, after their 
day's work is done, hastening home with song at 
the welcome sound of the bell. 

The whole district, with a few walks in the 
bushes, which in spring are alive with nightin- 
gales, is fenced with a trellis of rough branches, 
and treated as a "pleasure-ground" not so care- 
fully laid out. (See Plate XXVI for the aspect it 
presents, and Plate XXVII for the view from it.) 

The road which we now follow leads from the 
English house, gently ascending to the highest 
point of the chain of hills. First there are views 
of the Gobelin colony (bb^ and the wide flat 
surrounding it ; later on they lose themselves in 
the woods where only here and there a nar- 
row glimpse is afforded of the " Riesengebirge," 
which assumes an increasingly solemn and silent 
character, till one reaches the eminence in the 
"Burg" precinct, where is placed a lonely statue 
of the Holy Virgin, this sweetest and mildest em- 
blem of the Christian religion, and farther on the 



1 66 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

terrace, where the cemetery chapel is proposed 
{dd). (See Plate XXVIII, after a drawing by 
Schinkel.) 

Eight windows from the old town church of 
Boppart on the Rhine, which I was lucky enough 
to obtain, and which in the opinion of experts 
are by the same hand as the paintings in the 
Cologne Cathedral, will adorn this church, as 
also a crucifixion on the altar by Hemskerk. 

As there are Catholic inhabitants in several of 
my villages, and in the town itself, without any 
church of their own, they cannot attend, as often 
as they might wish, the nearest mass two miles 
distant. It is my intention to arrange this chapel 
for their worship as well, although its main pur- 
pose is to serve as cemetery chapel for the family 
of the owners of Muskau, a memento mori, in con- 
stant view of the castle windows, though softened 
and mellowed in the distance (as death generally 
appears to us in life). 

One sees on the plan the sexton's house near 
the chapel, with its little garden, and in front 
of it a spacious courtyard. The last is sur- 
rounded by thick lime walks cut en berceaux, 
which have been named after two living men, 
well known to the public and my good friends, 
the philosopher Gravell and the poet Leopold 
Schefer. Religion cannot be in better company 
than that of poetry and philosophy, and the tru- 
est religion consists precisely of the most intimate 
association of both. Hence it will be an appro- 
priate adornment if, as I intend, the footpaths 




u 






> 

X 
X 



The Park in Muskau 167 

surrounding the churchyard which I have dedi- 
cated to my friends shall be graced with statues 
of those heavenly sisters. Poetry and Philosophy, 
whilst the temple itself owes its existence to the 
conjunction of both. In a place so big with mean- 
ing as this I thought it allowable to have an in- 
scription which should show its meaning, and 
have chosen the following as indicating my own 
faith and the purpose of this church : — 

" In memory of loved ones 
Here reposes only the vesture of the soul. 
Which in those eternal regions 
Transformed and ever progressing, 
Ever creating, ever growing, 
Ever shaping and ever plastic, 
Godlike lives with God." 

On entering the courtyard one observes against 
the wall an ancient altar found here, surrounded 
by the emblems of the steeds of Zeutiber and 
Svantevit, which represent the dragon conquered 
by Christian angels for the salvation of man. 
Entering the church itself, we see at the end the 
high altar I have just mentioned, with an altar- 
piece carved in wood, brightly painted and gilt, 
a beautiful and appropriate work of some old 
master. We also see at the sides two small chap- 
els destined for the obsequies of the family. In 
the middle of the church on the right stands the 
pulpit, which will be built on the following plan, 
in imitation of an old church in Silesia : Moses 
with the Tables of the Law, and the Jewish high 
priest with the scapegoat decked for sacrifice, as 



1 68 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

the root of our religion, are sculptured in life- 
size. Between them rises a stem surrounded by 
a light spiral stair, which unfolds at the top in 
the form of a gigantic lily constituting the pul- 
pit. From the leaves of the lily appear the three 
beatitudes. Faith, Hope, and Charity, and the 
Angel of Judgment crowns the baldachin above, 
with the scales of good and evil in his right hand. 
On the pillars opposite the pulpit is the golden 
calf in high relief, with the Israelites dancing 
round it, as an ever-present warning against the 
greatest lust of man — the worship of Mammon. 
Behind the high altar a draped portal leads through 
a short corridor into a dark temple, at the end 
of which a niche is disclosed, where, brightly 
lighted from above and from each side, stands 
the Apollo Belvedere. 

I hope that sensible people will not charge 
me with blasphemy in my intention to bring into 
such close contact the temple of Apollo and his 
cult of joy with the Christian temple, since I 
had in view here the illustration of the general 
idea of religion, and therefore it seemed to me 
appropriate to surround its most sublime flower 

— the Christian church — on the one side 
with a piece of crude heathendom, as the rudi- 
mentary beginning, and on the other with that 
of one of the noblest, though sensuous, cults 

— that of the gods of Greece. For all relig- 
ions have something Godlike, and God has 
been patient with them all, is patient with so 
many to-day. Why should we reject the mem- 




u 



E 

u 

U 

-T3 

o 

ex, 

O 



> 

X 

X 

u 

H 
< 
►J 



The Park in Muskau 169 

ory of them totally, since we now know the 
better way ? Not as present objects of religious 
veneration, but as indications of historic develop- 
ments do they find their place here. 

A quarter of an hour's walk from the chapel 
we reach the "Burg" [ee) crossing, by a stone 
bridge of five arches, a ravine one hundred and 
twenty feet wide and forty feet deep, overgrown 
with evergreens at the sides. The view from here 
has already been described at the beginning of 
this chapter. In the interim, during the construc- 
tion of the projected buildings, a bench is placed, 
surrounded by a mixed forest, so that one must 
mount a step to get an open view. The arrange- 
ment of this " Burg " plan also is due to my 
worthy friend Schinkel, without whose inex- 
haustible talent, and amiability no less inexhaust- 
ible, I should perhaps never have been enabled 
to arrive at a satisfactory execution of my ideas. 

It is indeed no small advantage for us to have 
such a man, whose beneficial activity on behalf 
of the Fatherland is, however, hardly yet suffi- 
ciently appreciated. How often have I wished 
that the English, who spend such enormous sums 
daily for artistic purposes, almost without results, 
could obtain a talent equal to his with all their 
good-will and their wealth. What treasures has 
not Mr. Nash spent in such matters, and what 
would not Schinkel have achieved with the same 
sum ! 

Yet even here in my own country are many 
things to regret. 



170 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

Schinkel's name is renowned, it is true, and 
becomes more so every day, yet to the general 
public only his architectural achievements are 
known, far less the extraordinary universality of 
his genius, that native artistic force, which in 
every branch of art is entirely at home, and 
which can animate the rigid stone to make the 
grandest architectural monuments, can in sculp- 
ture find the most manifold subjects for its exer- 
cise, and can conjure on canvas with ready hand 
the most impressive pictures. 

I feel impelled to say a few words concerning 
one of the most marvelous compositions in the 
latter art, pictures which in my opinion have 
not since the time of Raphael perhaps been 
vouchsafed to genius. And although my remarks 
are really foreign to the matter of this book 
(which is less ambitious in its aim), yet perhaps 
they may not be quite unprofitable or quite un- 
welcome to many. 

I am speaking of those grandiose and profound 
poems, destined for the wall of the museum in 
Berlin, which have aroused the greatest attention 
and enthusiasm of all artists in our country, and 
whose completion for some unknown reason is 
still postponed. Yet we may with confidence 
hope that the magnificence of our King, to 
whom native art already owes so much, since he 
has provided for his people something to look at 
for centuries to come, will not withhold forever 
from the most intellectual section such a rich 
mine of instruction and pleasure. A few pious 



The Park in Muskau 171 

persons who, probably by reason of the happy 
contrast, have selected the chief city of Frederick 
the Great for a rubbish-heap, and whose propri- 
ety goes so far that they would provide every 
Cupid with a pair of breeches and every Venus 
with underskirts before permitting them to be 
exposed to the public eye, have immediately 
come to the front with the dictum that the nude 
in these pictures is in any case highly immoral, 
but still more inappropriate in the vicinity of 
the holy cathedral. (Even so these cheap holy 
ones have recently protested against telegraph 
wires on the church towers.) Yet with just as 
much right should the whole museum be con- 
demned, where for some years now the unutter- 
able has occurred, and great and little have had 
plentiful opportunity for becoming familiar with 
the nude and " the gods of Greece." If we can 
view these Christian pictures, countless altar- 
pieces, edifying representations of the pains of 
hell, etc., mingled heterogeneously with the old 
classic art, why should the Christian cathedral 
be unable to endure the proximity of Schinkel's 
world-embracing and world-historic ideas per- 
sonified in beautiful human form ? Yet St. Peter's 
in Rome, the cathedral of Christendom, permits, 
in the near proximity of the Vatican, profane 
wall-paintings, nude pictures and statues of all 
kinds; and does not, in the Capitol, the altar of 
Ara Cceli lie, as it were, cheek by jowl with a 
Bacchus and the Venus of Praxiteles in the bare 
adornment of nature ? But I forget that Catho- 



172 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

lies are not so orthodox as Protestants, and that 
the Pope is far too liberal for our too Puritanical 
ones. Better that I should take my comparisons 
from our daily life here, where in my opinion 
the contrast is equally remarkable. For do not 
the theater and the church here clasp hands in 
the most amicable manner, do not opera dancers 
every night do their honorable best to initiate 
Catholics and Protestants, pious and impious, 
into the mystery of the natural lines of the hu- 
man body ? Gauze and stockings do not prevent 
the study of the human form, but nobody ob- 
jects. 

More considerable and important than this ob- 
stacle seems to me the desire that Schinkel's great 
works may be completed while their creator /V still 
alive to direct their completion^ for how quickly, 
how suddenly, the flame of life is extinguished, 
even in the most robust, often unforeseen by all ! 
Schinkel, too, is not immortal, but his works will 
be if only their free and complete development 
is permitted, and they be not strangled or silenced 
in their very birth. 

We had stopped at the feudal castle in my 
park. Plate XXIX shows it and its surroundings. 

During the excavations in this neighborhood, 
only a year ago, a well-preserved skeleton was 
found in an overgrown thicket, only three feet 
underground, apparently that of a fine young 
man ; for it had excellent proportions, a phren- 
ologically well-formed skull, and all the teeth 
without a single gap. Whatever is found in the 



The Park in Muskau 173 

park, alive or dead, should be used for the bene- 
fit of the place ; and so I have also utilized this 
dubious find. A grave of green grass with a sim- 
ple stone cross has been made for this skeleton. 
The inscription states that the bones of the un- 
known rest under the cross, and from the bank 
near it the eye plunges into a wide and deep 
forest ravine. 

Almost the whole of the considerable space 
which is taken up by the feudal castle buildings 
is used for service ; only the detached tower with 
the so-called old castle is arranged for the use of 
the master. Not far from the castle Platz is 
a narrow plain about a mile round, used to make 
a little race-course with " obstacles," in which I 
have taken the liberty of using as my model, 
not the domestic but the Irish style, which, even 
for the best riders and most excellent horses, 
present real obstacles ; as, for instance, clay banks 
six feet high with a ditch beyond ; stone walls 
five feet high, woodpiles and ditches twelve and 
sixteen feet wide. The course is so small that 
one can see all the evolutions quite distinctly 
from the amphitheater in the middle, which is 
to be provided with three rows of rising seats 
which are to be dug in the sides of the hill ; and 
during the whole race one need never lose sight 
of the horses. 

This is the utmost point of to-day's excursion, 
from which we return to the castle by a road, 
marked with an arrow in the plan, whose ac- 
quaintance we have yet to make. 



174 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

During this drive an advantageous view is dis- 
closed from the double bridge [ff) of the mill 
[gg) (see Plate XXX), and at the end one may 
in passing cast a glance at the gay colors of the 
blue flower gardens (see Plate XXXI), with which 
we take our farewell of all the park and garden 
scenes. 

SECOND carriage DRIVE 

Although this drive, like the third which still 
confronts the reader, covers as much ground as 
the foregoing, I may say that, since there are 
fewer objects to enumerate, a shorter description 
will suffice. 

We first take our route (follow the arrow) 
directly to the guest house, an extensive estab- 
lishment, arranged for the convenience of visitors, 
which is not yet finished. This short piece of 
road, which we passed yesterday, but from the 
opposite direction, and the neighborhood with all 
its views, appears, although seen from the same 
point, a very different one, on account of the 
altered direction. 

We soon find ourselves in a new domain on 
the western hills, which stretches along the town, 
climbs the steep slope behind it, and then pro- 
ceeds through the village of Berg, through fruit 
gardens, until we reach the Wendish farmhouse 
(M) called "Sorgenfrei" (Sans Souci), which is 
built quite in the style and within the means of 
a well-to-do farm-owner in the village. From 
this point we can see nearly the whole park spread 




X 
X 

X 



The Park in Muskau 175 

out, and immediately at our feet we can overlook, 
as on a map, high above the roofs of the town, 
the streets in all their detail, the castle (whose 
towers do not rise to the level of our feet), 
the lake Lucie, the flower gardens with the 
"pleasure-ground," and now the sky is covered 
with thick clouds, which only permit a glimpse 
of the distance. A little garden of grass and fruit 
surrounds the house, in whose precincts stands 
the ruins of the oldest church in the Oberlausitz, 
for the upkeep of which help was asked in Rome 
in the last century. Although small, from an 
architectural point of view it is not without in- 
terest, and is very picturesquely placed in the 
middle of the old churchyard under the shade 
of tall limes. (See for this view Plate XXXII.) 
Even in my grandfather's time there stood on 
this point an old tree surrounded with benches, 
to make the most of this pleasant spot, and 
it often serves me, I gladly acknowledge, as a 
double memento, first of thanks to God, who 
gave me the sense to rejoice as a child in his 
sublime works, and second, in recognition of 
that simplicity which, even though by a con- 
ceited person it is considered only momentarily, 
is yet the condition in which peaceful happiness 
smiles most, and from which evil cares stay far- 
thest. The road along this whole tour was very, 
difficult to make, as the many ravines and deep 
bays could only be made passable by bridges. 
Luckily wood here is cheap and superabundant, 
as in many other places in the Fatherland. With- 



176 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

out this convenience the completion would per- 
haps have been too expensive for my income. 
The greater part of this plan just described is 
planted with fruit trees only, an idea which I 
have borrowed from Chief Gardener Lenne, the 
carrying-out of which certainly gives very fine 
results when the place selected is suitable. Here 
between village and town, and extending between 
the gardens of both, visible in the far distance 
from the valley, there was no course more prac- 
tical than further to cover with masses of fruit 
trees the mountain which was already terraced 
and skirted with fruit trees, so that in summer 
the bright green of fine grass might be seen shim- 
mering under the tree-stems. But since the shape 
of most fruit trees is poor and ugly, I have tried 
to amend this by the mixture of the beautiful 
wild apple tree. 

From the fruit plantation we arrive, close be- 
hind the village, at the upper edge of a narrow 
valley, whose steep sides are lined with old 
beeches, and where here and there the headings 
and shafts of the alum works are visible. The 
road then turns again toward the plain of the 
mountain projection and skirts a little wooded 
lake near the village, until, in a quarter of an 
hour, we reach (//) the vineyard, passing by sev- 
eral nice cottages of the hill folk, where, above 
the vineyards, a very wide prospect is opened on 
the regions of Bautzen and Gorlitz. In the mid- 
dle, the highest point six miles off, appearing 
singularly isolated, divides the horizon, and is 



The Park in Muskau 177 

surrounded by the sea of forest which covers the 
whole region. After refreshments at the vine- 
dresser's hut, we follow the hillside by a zigzag 
drive which encloses the alum works, cross the 
wooden chute by which the ore is conveyed, and 
maybe alight once more from the vehicle, to visit 
some of the shafts, which are illuminated on cer- 
tain days during the bathing season, decorated 
with colored alum crystals, and inspect the huts 
and other works in detail, if we take an interest 
in such things. 

Nature is wild here, and although the soil is 
sandy and for the most part covered with firs, it 
is much interspersed with colored gravels, black 
ore, or brown coal deposits which rise to the sur- 
face, and many very picturesque aspects are shown 
in the precipitous, abrupt character of the ground, 
which seems as if it had been hurled about in 
an earthquake. We even find in one spot a sort 
of small volcano, yet not an artificial one, but a 
fire in the earth, which is shown by a perpetual 
wreath of smoke and occasional bursts of small 
flames from the subterranean glow of a brown 
coal deposit, causing a good deal of anxiety to 
the miners. 

In striking contrast to the chaotically torn 
strata, directly behind the foundries are the gar- 
dens of the baths, which come as a pleasant sur- 
prise with their wealth of roses. 

A convenient drive leads from the " Kur- 
haus" (//) round an extensive "pleasure-ground" 
to the mineral baths (mm), the moor baths, and 



178 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

the lodgings (««), and many promenades to the 
nearer mountains. Much care has been taken to 
get as great a contrast as possible with the views 
of the regions visited yesterday by dwelling on 
its varied and rugged character, as well as by 
introducing new subjects, or at least leading to 
them in a new direction. 

The lover of free, untrammeled Nature will 
therefore be most pleased with this region. It 
will be easy for him to find deepest solitude in 
dense forest and glade, where there is nothing to 
disturb his thoughts, except at most the monot- 
onous tap of the iron hammer, close by at Keula, 
or a more gently hammering woodpecker, or 
perhaps the sudden apparition of a miner's black 
head, which appears and disappears like a ghost 
out of the earth. 

The " pleasure-ground " here is also treated 
quite differently from that in the neighborhood 
of the castle. Public baths, it is obvious, have 
quite other requirements than those which are 
suited to a private residence. Shady walks and a 
number of comfortable and roomy resting-points 
are here specially called for, as well as a choice 
of plants whose flowering season is due in late 
summer, the principal bathing season. A small 
flower garden is on the right of the " Kurhaus," 
and is enclosed by high and steep bluffs, which 
are by nature so rich in odd formations that I 
hit upon the contrivance of treating them in the 
taste of an Oriental garden with various brightly 
colored pavilions on the steep and sheer heights. 



The Park in Muskau 179 

Isolated as it is, and, as'I have remarked, sug- 
gesting, on account of its natural peculiarities, 
an original treatment, the carrying-out of my 
plan will I hope be quite appropriate, especially 
as in grounds, which are intended for the gen- 
eral public, something to suit all tastes is more 
of a consideration than in the case of a decora- 
tive garden, which requires a more critical ar- 
rangement. Already and without much assistance 
this part of the " pleasure-ground " has something 
exotic about it. (Plate XXXIII shows this fin- 
ished on the map ; Plate XXXIV gives a view 
of the whole baths; Plate XXXV the view from 
the salon of the moor baths; and Plate XXXVI, 
the garden of the pavilion for drinking the 
waters [oo)j a little place, closed all round, deco- 
rated only with baskets of centifolia rose and a 
large antique camp bench with hortensias all 
round it.) 

When we have visited all these, which will 
occupy some hours, we get into the carriage 
again, and follow the previous drive in a long 
and high mountain ravine, where we meet first 
a range for shooting at the target, and farther 
on, in a wide basin formed by the mountains 
around, various games and booths [pp) as well 
as an open race-course and a jumping arrange- 
ment for the exercise of the horses. 

We then continue up the hill, pass a coal- 
works and a railway which leads through the 
galleries of the mine to the alum huts, and en- 
joy from the height another wide view, of which 



i8o Hints on Landscape Gardening 

the chief point is the " Wussina," a deer park, 
distant a short mile, which I shall describe more 
fully later on. 

After this beautiful drive completely around 
the bath and its surroundings, we go downhill 
and leave the mining region, returning along 
the Neisse and passing by several lodgings in 
various styles for the bathers, and finally reach 
the castle. Here, as one can see, only the short 
stretch of road used yesterday is traveled : how- 
ever, because we come from the opposite direc- 
tion, we get different views. 

THIRD CARRIAGE DRIVE 

It is impossible to deal always with the same 
material without becoming somewhat monoto- 
nous. Nevertheless, for the exact study of the 
plan of the grounds, a detailed guide is indispen- 
sable to the reader. All that I can do to lighten 
the task is to strike a middle course which, with- 
out boring him too mercilessly, should put him 
in a position to work out the whole in his own 
mind with the help of the plans. 

Our "trip" this time begins where the drive 
of the first day left off (follow the arrow), and 
after passing the inevitable short portion of the 
road taken already, but this time in the opposite 
direction, we reach a region which was only 
seen in previous days at a distance and cursorily, 
near the great Neisse bridge. We drive for some 
time along a dam between the river and some 
tall oaks, until we climb the Lucknitzer Hill, 



The Park in Muskau i8i 

where a belvedere [pp) has been built. (See 
Plate XXXVII.) The extended drive along the 
ridge of the mountain embraces the real Neisse 
Valley with the fields and meadows of the town 
burghers, which lie at the foot of the high alum 
mountains and through which the river runs in 
sharp curves. 

The six towers of the little town appear from 
this place so high and so distant from one another 
that a stranger might think he was entering a 
big town. This view gradually disappears behind 
the hills, and next we enter a young deciduous 
woods with no distant view, which takes half an 
hour to cross by a lonesome road, until we reach 
the highest plateau in the park, where at a sharp 
turn of the road the wide country and the whole 
chain of mountains, from the snow summits to 
the most easterly of the Bautzner Range, lies 
before us, embracing half the horizon. The fore- 
ground is formed of dark spruce forest and the 
projecting pinnacles of the "Burg." Here an ob- 
servatory has been planned. On the other side are 
meadows gradually shelving away, and coupled 
with other enclosures, together with the large 
race-course intended for racing country horses 
and the ancient buildings of the stud (rr). (See 
Plate XXXVIII.) 

The road from here leads through pasture 
grounds, partly also through loosely connected 
woods in which the acacia dominates, and in a 
short time reaches the above-mentioned stud, 
which offers no interest except to a horse-lover. 



1 82 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

We will, therefore, not linger any time here, but 
lead the reader quickly to the " Burg " farm by 
the meadow, where a model farm was not sought, 
but only a good income. Model farms are no 
doubt of much public benefit, yet are in them- 
selves only sacrifices to others whereby satisfac- 
tory results can be achieved only by means of 
extremely costly experiments, which are then 
imitated by one's neighbors without further test 
expense, and hence they are the only ones to 
profit by them. Now, since the artistic purpose 
of my grounds occasioned quite sufficient outlay, 
I found myself compelled to limit my endeavors 
to the establishment of a model park, whose 
results, of course, as I cannot deny, would not 
bring in so much 7noney as the lessons of model 
economy. 

With these observations, dear reader, we have 
arrived at the sheep farm [ss), whose high-bred 
sheep I was for two years compelled to degrade 
on account of the unfavorable wool idea of that 
time ; that is, to make them more lucrative by 
a coarser but richer wool crop. We come next 
to the large race-course [it), the use of which I 
intend shortly to offer to the " National Asso- 
ciation for Breeding Fine Horses." It is half a 
German mile long, one hundred and twenty feet 
broad, with plenty of room for lookers-on, and 
forms a large oval, the interior of which is di- 
vided into seven separate fields, each planted with 
different fruit trees. From the heights this pre- 
sents the view of a colossal star. 



The Park in Muskau 183 

From the "stands," which are erected on a 
high point, one overlooks the whole course as 
well as a romantic region, with some small lakes. 
Stables for the horses "in training" and all the 
other requisites will be furnished close by. One 
of the above lakes will serve a purpose of a 
peculiar character. It will be planted, including 
its islands, with a mass of weeping willows, and 
quarried rocks scattered about, inscribed with the 
names of dear departed ones in silent memory 
[uuY The race-course at one point passes close 
by this lake of mourning, where at the same 
moment one may look down as into a hollow at 
the race-horse in his joyous flight and upon the 
monuments of those who now repose so deeply 
and whose race on this earth has forever been 
run. The large nursery from which the greater 
part of the park was planted might also be 
thought worth our attention as we pass (yvY 
The neighboring lake yields the needful water, 
which, however, is sparely used for watering, in 
order to harden the young plants from the be- 
ginning, for which reason also a soil of only 
medium quality was selected. From the race- 
course the road leads to the Gobelin colony, a 
collection of cottages of various shapes, which 
we have already mentioned (^^). (See Plate 
XXXIX.) They are mostly inhabited by the 
garden laborers, and are scattered on a height, 
with a few old oaks, which may, perhaps, be 
several centuries old. Among them a few years 
ago a small treasure was found, buried probably 



184 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

at the time of the Thirty Years' War, of which 
I have kept several coins. This is the only treas- 
ure which I can boast of having found with all 
my rummaging in the earth ; on the other hand, 
that treasure has not failed me which the father 
bequeathed to his son when he urged him to 
dig for it round his vineyard, and I therefore 
recommend the same experiment to every land- 
owner. 

We return to the castle past the village of 
Kobeln (ww), which also is inhabited only by 
garden laborers, along the Neisse, by a road on 
which, for the greater part, we have not driven 
before. I must remark once more that we are 
driving in the opposite direction from that part 
of the road with which we are already familiar, 
in order to lay stress on the fact that, with all 
our various drives and crossings during these 
days, we have never seen exactly the same pic- 
ture repeated, and yet have touched at all the 
chief points, and have omitted nothing but those 
manifold details which require too much time, 
those never-ending variations of the inexhaus- 
tible music of Nature, which are only quite 
discoverable in all their nuances by the sturdy 
pedestrian.' 

' I need hardly point out that in the present disposition of the 
grounds, if the three carriage drives are made entirely in the opposite 
direction from that here described, an almost wholly new series of dif- 
ferent views fnust be presented, although they are formed out of the 
same materials, as also quite different views may be obtained by short 
cuts which I have not described. If we add the footpaths as well, eight 
days would be necessary to know the park from end to end. 




o 



o 

u 



u 



o 

u 

h 



>< 
X 
X 



The Park in Muskau 185 

Although the description of the park ends 
here, a few words are due concerning more re- 
mote questions which are connected with the 
subject. As I have the great advantage of exten- 
sive and connected territories, and as no advan- 
tage should be neglected, I have attempted to 
utilize it in the following manner : — 

A mile southeast of Muskau, toward the Si- 
lesian Mountains, I laid out a park for wild deer 
with a villa and huntsman's hut; and in a south- 
easterly direction, at a distance of two miles, a 
larger park for stags and wild boars. The foun- 
dation for this last was afforded by an old hunt- 
ing and pleasure castle, where for centuries plenty 
of game was sacrificed to the hunting nobility. 
Both parks are connected by twin roads, going 
to and fro, which are reserved for the owners 
alone and never leave my land, and lead through 
the most interesting portion of the country, con- 
nected with the castle park, so that one may pro- 
long the drives already described in one or other 
of these places for the whole day, if one wishes. 
A fifth road, besides, has been projected, for di- 
rect connection between the two parks for wild 
animals, which will lead unbroken for several 
miles through the main woods, and which, as 
the chronicles mention, borders the royal graves 
and Swantewit's hills of sacrifice. I have at- 
tempted to restore, in the form of sacrificial 
altars, some grotesque stone forms found during 
excavation. 

The first grounds laid out, which I have al- 



1 86 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

lowed to retain the former Wendish name " Wus- 
sina" (Wilderness), consists mostly of deciduous 
trees, up to a very wild part covered with tall firs, 
which has been given the name of" Wolf's Lair," 
in honor of the huntsmen. Occasionally we make 
the place resound at midnight with the Devil 
music of Weber, which has a doubly gruesome 
effect in these appropriate surroundings. A forest 
stream flows through the Wussina, and into the 
Neisse, which bounds two sides of the grounds. 
The third boundary is formed by a broad road 
and a low fence, which the deer can easily leap, 
as they do not thrive in fenced-in grounds, for, 
although one of the most delicate of beasts, the 
gentle deer, it seems, can least of all endure loss 
of freedom. The terrain is very mountainous, 
and lonely forest ravines, with deep meadow 
valleys at the foot and various views toward the 
" Riesengebirge " from the higher portions, make 
up the chief characteristics of these grounds. (See 
Plate XL.) 

A quite different character, on the other hand, 
is shown in the large deer park, a district for- 
merly enclosed by a high fence, which it takes 
six to eight hours to circuit. The enclosure has re- 
cently been pulled down by my orders and simple 
canals substituted; partly because with such an 
accumulation of game I lost too much from the 
poachers, who became very bold in consequence 
of the light punishment which was imposed when 
they were caught ; partly because I found that 
wild animals in a confined space degenerated very 




> 

X 



The Park in Muskau 187 

much, becoming smaller, leaner, and less tasty, 
and also too tame, almost like the fallow deer 
which in England resemble flocks of sheep. Be- 
sides, game can be kept together in certain dis- 
tricts without fencing, by appropriate fodder and 
other practical means without hermetically seal- 
ing them from other pastures, and letting them 
pine and deteriorate in depressing captivity. An 
experience of fifteen years has quite convinced me 
on this point.' 

It was singular that two of my most opulent 
neighbors began to lay out fenced deer parks at 
the very time when I had my own fences pulled 
down. They had taken fifteen years to make up 
their minds to imitate me. I have no doubt that 
fifteen years later they will again follow me, for 
every one likes to become wise by his own expe- 
rience. 

The park lies quite in the plain, and presents 
merely an endless wooded tract with very few 
elevations, but is remarkable for its very fine old 
timber, mostly oaks, spruces, and pines of unusual 
size. The latter, with their tall, smooth trunks, 
sometimes one hundred and fifty feet high, are 
more like the pines of Italy than our common 
and picturesque kinds. 

But what makes this wood so fresh and de- 

' To prevent the liberals from falling on me on account of this, I may 
inform them that out of consideration for the farmers I hold only a third 
of the game which the law permits, in proportion to the area, which 
contains one hundred and thirty thousand acres, and that I let them 
have wood free besides, to enable them to fence their own fields wher- 
ever there are gaps. 



1 88 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

lightful, and gives it a particular charm, is the 
almost unbroken carpet of huckleberries, cran- 
berries, ferns, and wild rosemary which densely 
cover the ground. The bright green and shining 
leaf of the huckleberries, alternating continually 
with fern, is undoubtedly preferable in a wood to 
the finest lawn, and certainly cannot be artificially 
created in such lusty growth ; nay, even where 
these plants were taken away in former times for 
litter, they have never grown again in the shade. 
It seems that more than a man's lifetime is re- 
quired before large stretches become richly clad 
with them. This deer park, the castle of which 
contains plenty of room for many hunting guests, 
is used as head rendezvous for stag, boar, and roe 
hunting. The most interesting hunting for many, 
however, is heathcock shooting; growing else- 
where rarer every year, it can still be enjoyed 
here in great abundance. Indeed, one may hear 
from thirty to forty birds "calling" simultane- 
ously in the territory of the park. For this sport 
one must rise very early, and as city folk are 
averse to this, the following plan of mine met 
with much appreciation: One drives from Mus- 
kau at midnight by torchlight through the woods, 
one of the cheapest as well as most agreeable 
methods of illuminating, then spends the rest of 
the time blowing the reveille at the hunting 
castle, and immediately afterwards "beats up" 
the heathcock, as it is called in hunting terms. 
In this manner ladies could frequently take part, 
and on their account I may be excused for men- 




Plate XLI. Spruce Tree in Muskau Park 

One Hundred Feet High 




.S X 
O £^ 



The Park in Muskau 189 

tioning this detail, which is hardly pertinent to 
the matter. 

For stalking other game ten or twelve differ- 
ent tracks have been made, which also lead to 
the finest parts of the wood. These are divided 
among the guests strictly as their temporary prop- 
erty, so that each one may make use only of the 
one designated for him, and is certain, therefore, 
to avoid any accident on it. The huntsmen would 
consider it a very unbecoming intrusion on the 
rights of the others if anybody refused to abide 
by this rule. Therefore, the possessor may be cer- 
tain day and night of being able to follow his 
pleasure, comme il Ventend. I owe this contrivance, 
as practical as it is pleasant, to the kindly assist- 
ance of Herr Oberforstmeister and Professor 
Pfeil in Berlin, after whom one of these laby- 
rinthine, serpentine paths is even now called the 
" Pfeilstrasse." 

Here there is such a number of splendid trees 
that I could not deny myself the pleasure of 
having two of them portrayed. Plate XLI rep- 
resents a spruce tree standing alone, only one 
hundred feet high, it is true, but from which 
masses of needles hang down from the lowest 
branches to the length of seven feet. I once had 
it illuminated with paper lanterns in the form 
of colossal fruits like a Christmas tree, such a 
Christmas tree as perhaps has never been seen 
elsewhere. Plate XLII shows a remarkably 
shaped oak, eighty-five feet high, with a cir- 
cumference of the trunk of twenty-four feet one 



190 Hints on Landscape Gardening 

ell (yard) above the earth. The strongest branches 
are nine feet in circumference. 

The last plate, XLIV, gives a view of my cot- 
tage in the garden of the hunting castle, a quiet, 
secluded spot, whence I bid a hearty farewell to 
the amiable reader, if he has held out so far with 
this dry matter, sincerely hoping that my small 
efforts may have been of some service to those 
who have devoted themselves to the same hobby, 
and also that I have drawn the attention of others 
to an occupation which perhaps has appeared to 
them in too subordinate a light. For when once 
the landowner has begun to idealize his prop- 
erty, he will soon become aware that cultivation 
of the soil will secure for him not only pecuniary 
advantage, but also real artistic delight, and how 
thankful Nature is to him who dedicates his 
powers with love. So then, if each one does his 
best for his own tirelessly and thoroughly, and 
the thousand facets combine easily and well to 
form one ring, the lovable dream of the St. Si- 
monians might become true of a universal cult 
of our mother earth. For this purpose, however, 
it would be well to turn aside a little from these 
sad politics, which absorb everything and give so 
little in return, and revert a little more to happy 
art, whose service is in itself a reward ; since for 
the ruling of the State we cannot all strive. But 
to seek to improve himself and his property is 
in the power of each one of us, and it is even a 
question whether in such a simple manner, in 
honest and homely endeavor, the so-much-de- 




u 



3 



u 




The Park in Muskau 191 

sired freedom may not be attained with more 
calm and safety than by the many experiments 
in superficial theoretic forms of State. For he 
only can be free who commands himself. 



THE END 



INDEX 



Index 



Architecture in connection with 

landscape design, 32-33. 
Ashridge, 38. 

Bautzner Range, 181. 
Blumenbach, 9. 
Braunsdorf, 127. 
Brown, landscape architect, 29. 
Buckingham Palace, 70. 
Buried treasure, 183-84. 
Buxus (Box), 71. 

Cattle in parks, 19-21, 26. 

Chiswick, 71. 

Claude Lorrain, 22. 

Comparison of landscape art 
with that of the actor, the 
architect, and the musician, 
I 17-18. 

Cultivation of grass land, 55, 56, 

57; 

Cutting down trees, 59. 

Deciduous trees, how to be used, 

28-29. 
Deer, maintenance of, 186-87. 
Distant view, treatment of, 27, 30. 
Drainage, 50-51. 

Eaton Hall, 38. 

Employment of trees around 

buildings, 33-34. 
England, 35. 
Evergreen trees, how to be used, 

28, 29, 74. 

Farm, model, 182. 
Fern, 188. 



Fichte, 105. 

Fir, 28. 

Flower beds, 45, 73. 

Flower garden, 178, 179. 

French parterre, 33. 

Garden, true function of, 22. 
Garden art, true principle, 22; 
of France, 22; 
of Romans, 22; 
of Switzerland, 22. 
Gardener's Magazine, 35. 
Gardens, design, definition of, 

42, 74- 
German landscape gardening, 

criticism, of, 1-7. 
Gobelin colony, 183. 
Goethe, 34. 

Gothic building, 33, 34, 42. 
Grasses, 49-54; 56-5?. 

Ha-ha ditch, 27, 43. 

Harmony of colors of trees and 

shrubs, 69. 
Holly, 71. 
Huckleberries, 188. 

Italy of the Renaissance, 33. 

Juniper, 28. 

Kobeln village, 184. 

Lake in St. James's Park, design 

of, 91. 
Landscape gardening, English, 

criticism of, 3-7, 19-20, 126. 
Laurel, 71. 



196 



Index 



Lawns, 43-44. 




Pleasure-grounds, 19, 39, 178. 


Lenne, landscape architect, 7, 


176. 


Prussia, 21. 


Lilacs, 76. 




Piickler, fitness to teach " art of 


Lombard poplars, 33, 66, 79. 




gardening," 7-9. 


Malahide, 37. 




Raphael, 170. 


Memorial Lake, 184. 




Regent's Park, 91. 


Michael Angelo, 18. 




Repton, 9, 36, 91. 


Mistakes, treatment of, 14-1 


6. 


Rhododendron, 71. 


Moss under trees, 53. 




Roads, construction of, 86-89; 


Mountains, Oberlausitz, 120; 




design, 81-85. 


Silesian, 120. 




Rousseau, 40. 


Muck or humus, 49. 






Muskau, 15. 




St. James's Park, 91. 

St. Peter's at Rome, 18, 171. 


Nash, Wm., 71, 72, 73, 91. 




Shrubberies, 75. 


Nature, 117. 




Site of building, 31-35. 


Neisse Valley, 127, 180. 




Spruce, 28, 33, 187, 189. 
Symbolic expression in landscape 


Oaks, 187. 




design, 34, 35. 


Pantheon, 18. 




Temples, 34, 42. 


Park design, definition of, 


13, 




42,60. 




Warwick Castle, 37. 


Parks, English, 19. 




Weber, 186. 


Paths, 74. 




Windsor Park, 70. 


Pine, 28, 33, 120, 187. 




Wussina, 186. 


Plans, of parks and garden, 16-17. 




Planting trees, 60-66. 




Yew, 28. 



I? 



B ' 1 6. 9 



O 'o . » " A ^ 



0' 



^o* ^Ov-, >- ' A°^ 



r'^^. 






,0 



.0 















. . » .0 




.0 



4 <=>.. 









^O. 



o V- 



0^ . t . . 



0' 



<^ 



^. 




0^ 









^ 









^ 



,^ 







O V 



^^* ^-^^ 



.V 



.0 



>0 





'^ i 



^^0^ 






^^c,^ 



.V-^. 



o 





; /"^ ^^^^vi^^ ^^' -^ "-.^S 



0^ "^o 'o-.T- A <^ 






»""'' > 









A' 



.^^ 









";^ 



V 









r^'. '-^ ^ ^ ^-^flK' ^ .-^ 



0^ 




"-,/ ..\:^ii^--.%o^' *#*;•- "•>b/ ^^^'' 






•^^ ' . . « 



























C 



.4" 



>. 



C^ 












^0' 












.<y , o " o ♦ <f>^ 






'fe^-'^^^ 



^. 



A 



.<' 



A D£) 7 



ST. AUGUSTINE 






TINE .;-^i,^;- i^ -^-^-:^^ ^^^ ^o ^r^'^^r-* 0^ ' 






